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CV  THE  REV.  CANON 

R.  L.  OTTLEY,  D.D. 


Uniform  with 
The  Rule  of  Life  and  Love, 

THE   RULE   OF   FAITH 

AND    HOPE.  fii^ady. 

THE   RULE   OF   WORK 
AND   WORSHIP. 

[In  preparation. 

Demy  8vo,  5s.  net  each. 
LONDON  :    ROBERT   SCOTT. 


tHibvar^  of  Ibietodc  ZhcoloQS>, 

EDITED   BY   THE   REV.    WM.    C,   PIERCY,    M.A. 

DEAN  AND  CHAPLAIN  OF  WHITELANDS  COLLEGE 


THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

ROBERT    LAWRENCE    OTTLEY,    D.D. 


Edited  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  C.  PIERCY,  M.A. 

VOLUMES    NOW    READY. 

THE  PRESENT  RELATIONS  OF  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGION. 

By  the  Rev.  Professor  T.  G.  BoNNEy,  D.So. 
ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

By  Professor  Edouard  Navillb,  D.C.L. 
MARRIAGE  IN  CHURCH  AND  STATE. 

By  the  Rev.  T.  A.  Lacey,  M.A.  (Warden  of  the  Loadoa  Diocesan  Peaiteotiary). 
THE  BUILDING  UP  OH  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

By  the  Rev.  Canoa  R.  B.  Girdlkstome,   M.A. 
CHRISTIANITY   AMD  OTHER    FAITHS.     An  Essay  In  Comparative  Religion. 

By  the  Rev.  W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall,  D.D, 
THE  CHURCHES  IN  BRITAIN.  Vols.  I.  and  //. 

By  the  Rev.  Alfred  Plommer,  D.D.  (formerly  Master  of  University  College,  Durham), 
CHARACTER  AND  RELIGION. 

By  the  Rev.  the  Hom.  Edward  Lytteltom,  M.A.    (Head  Master  of  Eton  College), 
MISSIONARY  METHODS,  ST.  PAUL'S  OR  OURS  ? 

By  the  Rev.  Rolamd  Allen,  M.A.  (Author  of  "  Missionary  Principles  "). 
THE  RULE  OF  FAITH  AND  HOPE. 

By  the   Rev.  R.  L.  Ottley,  D.D.  (Canon  of  Christ  Church,  aod   Regius  Professor 
of  Pastoral  Theology  iu  the  Uaiversity  of  Oxford). 
THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE. 

By  the  Rev.  R.  L.  Ottley,  D.D. 
THE  CREEDS:    THEIR  HISTORY,  NATURE  AND  USE. 

By  the  Rev,  Harold  Smith,  M.A.  (Lecturer  at  the  London  College  of   Divinity). 
THE  CHRISTOLOGY  OF  ST.  PAUL  (Hulsean  Prize  Essay). 

By  the  Rev.  S.  Nowell  Rostron,  M.A.  (Late  Principal  of  St,  John's  Hall,  Durham), 
MYSTICISM   IN   CHRISTIANITY. 

By  the  Rev.  W.  K.  Fleming,  M.A.,  B.D. 
RELIGION  IN  AN  AGE  OF  DOUBT. 

By  the  Rev.  C.  J.  Shebbeare,  M.A. 

The  following  works  are  in  Preparation : — 

RELIGIOUS     EDUCATION  I     ITS 
PAST,   PRESENT,  AND    FUTURE. 

By  the  Rev.  Prebendary  B.  Reynolds, 

THE  CATHOLIC  CONCEPTION  OF 
THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Sparrow  Simpson,  D.D. 


AITTHORITY  AND  FREETHOUGHT 
IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Bussell,  D.D. 
EARLY  CHRISTIAN  LITBRATURE. 

By  the  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Piercy,  M.A. 

^r^..„^«r   .^T,,r..^.,.,^v-.  GOD  AND  MAN,  ONE  CHRIST. 

COMMON   OBJECTIONS  n    ..     n        ^  o    o  .»  « 

TO   CHRISTIA.VUY  *'  Charles  E.  Raven,  MA. 


By  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Drawbridge,  M.A. 

THE  CHURCH  OUTSIDE  THE  EMPIRE. 

By  the  Rev.  C.  R.  Davey  Biggs,  D.D. 

THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH  AND  THE 
CONDITIONS   OF   US    PROSPERITY. 

By  the  Rev.  P.  N.  Waogett,  M.A. 
THE  ETHICS  OF  TEMPTATION. 

By  the  Ven.  E.  E,  Holmes,  M.A. 


GREEK  THOUGHT  AND 
CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  K.  Mozley,  M.A. 

THE  GREAT  SCHISM  BETWEEN 
THli  EAST  AND  WEST. 

By  the  Rev.  F,  J.  Foakes-Jackson,  D.D. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL  IN 
OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. 
By  the  Rev.  A.  Troelstra,  D.D. 

Full  particulars  of  this  Library  may  be  obtained  from  the  Publisher. 


NEW  YORK:  FLEMING  H.  REVELL  CO. 


THE  RULE  OF  LIFE 
AND  LOVE 


AN   EXPOSITION   OF 
THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTSy<^^'^ 


BY    THE    REV. 

ROBERT    LAWRENCE    OTTLEY,    D.D. 

Canon  of  Christ  church, 
hon.  fellow  of  pembroke  college,  oxford 


Fidelia  omnia  mandata  eius : 
confirmata  in  saeculum  saeculi. 

— Ps.  cxi.  8. 
Particeps  ego  sum  omnium  timentium  te 
et  custodientium  mandata  tua. 

— Ps.  cxix.63. 


NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 

FLEMING    H.    REVELL    COMPANY 

MCMXII 


TO 

BISHOP  MITCHINSON 

MASTER   OF   PEMBROKE   COLLEGE 
MY   HONOURED  TEACHER 
AND   CONSTANT    FRIEND 
I  DEDICATE  THIS   BOOK, 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

THE  present  volume  is  one  of  a  series  of  three  undertaken 
by  the  Rev.  Canon  Ottley  and  dealing  devotionally 
with  The  Creed,  The  Ten  Commandments  and  The  Lord's 
Prayer.  The  first  work,  'The  Rule  of  Faith  and  Hope,* 
has  already  been  published,  and  the  third  volume  will  be 
issued  under  the  title  of  '  The  Rule  of  Work  and  Wor- 
ship.' 


viii 


EDITOR'S  GENERAL  PREFACE 

IN   no  branch  of  human  knowledge  has  there  been  a  more 
Uvely  increase  of  the  spirit  of  research  during  the  paist  few 
years  than  in  the  study  of  Theology. 

Many  points  of  doctrine  have  been  passing  afresh  through 
the  crucible  ;  "  re-statement  "  is  a  popular  cry  and,  in  some 
directions,  a  real  requirement  of  the  age ;  the  additions  to 
our  actual  materials,  both  as  regards  ancient  manuscripts  and 
archaeological  discoveries,  have  never  before  been  so  great  as 
in  recent  years  ;  Unguistic  knowledge  has  advanced  with  the 
fuller  possibihties  provided  by  the  constant  addition  of  more 
data  for  comparative  study ;  cuneiform  inscriptions  have  been 
deciphered,  and  forgotten  peoples,  records,  and  even  tongues, 
revealed  anew  as  the  outcome  of  dihgent,  skilful  and  devoted 
study. 

Scholars  have  speciaUzed  to  so  great  an  extent  that  many  con- 
clusions are  less  speculative  than  they  were,  while  many  more 
aids  are  thus  available  for  arriving  at  a  general  judgment ;  and, 
in  some  directions  at  least,  the  time  for  drawing  such  general 
conclusions,  and  so  making  practical  use  of  such  specialized 
research,  seems  to  have  come,  or  to  be  close  at  hand. 

Many  people,  therefore,  including  the  large  mass  of  the  parochial 
clergy  and  students,  desire  to  have  in  an  accessible  form  a  review 
of  the  results  of  this  flood  of  new  light  on  many  topics  that  are  of 
living  and  vital  interest  to  the  Faith ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
"  practical  "  questions — ^by  which  is  really  denoted  merely  the 
apphcation  of  faith  to  Ufe  and  to  the  needs  of  the  day — have 
certainly  lost  none  of  their  interest,  but  rather  loom  larger  than 
ever  if  the  Church  is  adequately  to  fulfil  her  Mission. 

It  thus  seems  an  appropriate  time  for  the  issue  of  a  new  series 
of  theological  works,  which  shall  aim  at  presenting  a  general 
survey  of  the  present  position  of  thought  and  knowledge  in 
various  branches  of  the  wide  field  which  is  included  in  the  study 
of  divinity, 

iz 


X  EDITOR'S   GENERAL    PREFACE 

The  Library  of  Historic  Theology  is  designed  to  supply  such 
a  series,  written  by  men  of  known  reputation  as  thinkers  and 
scholars,  teachers  and  divines,  who  are,  one  and  all,  firm  upholders 
of  the  Faith. 

It  will  not  deal  merely  with  doctrinal  subjects,  though  pro- 
minence will  be  given  to  these  ;  but  great  importance  will  be 
attached  also  to  history — the  sure  foundation  of  all  progressive 
knowledge — and  even  the  more  strictly  doctrinal  subjects  will 
be  largely  dealt  with  from  this  point  of  view,  a  point  of  view  the 
value  of  which  in  regard  to  the  "  practical  "  subjects  is  too 
obvious  to  need  emphasis. 

It  would  be  clearly  outside  the  scope  of  this  series  to  deal  with 
individual  books  of  the  Bible  or  of  later  Christian  writings,  with 
the  Uves  of  individuals,  or  with  merely  minor  (and  often  highly 
controversial)  points  of  Church  governance,  except  in  so  far  as 
these  come  into  the  general  review  of  the  situation.  This  de- 
tailed study,  invaluable  as  it  is,  is  already  abundant  in  many 
series  of  commentaries,  texts,  biographies,  dictionaries  and  mono- 
graphs, and  would  overload  far  too  heavily  such  a  series  as  the 
present. 

The  Editor  desires  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  the 
various  contributors  to  the  series  have  no  responsibihty  whatso- 
ever for  the  conclusrons  or  particular  views  expressed  in  any 
volumes  other  than  their  own,  and  that  he  himself  has  not  felt 
that  it  comes  within  the  scope  of  an  editor's  work,  in  a  series  of 
this  kind,  to  interfere  with  the  personal  views  of  the  writers.  He 
must,  therefore,  leave  to  them  their  full  responsibihty  for  their 
own  conclusions. 

Shades  of  opinion  and  differences  of  judgment  must  exist,  if 
thought  is  not  to  be  at  a  standstill — petrified  into  an  unpro- 
ductive fossil ;  but  while  neither  the  Editor  nor  all  their  readers 
can  be  expected  to  agree  with  every  point  of  view  in  the  details 
of  the  discussions  in  all  these  volumes,  he  is  convinced  that  the 
great  principles  which  he  behind  every  volume  are  such  as  must 
conduce  to  the  strengthening  of  the  Faith  and  to  the  glory  of 
God. 

That  this  may  be  so  is  the  one  desire  of  Editor  and  contributors 
aUke. 

W.  C.  P. 

London,  1911. 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

For  convenience'  sake  I  give  a  list  of  books  to  which  reference 
is  occasionally  made  and  which  are  scarcely  likely  to  be  familiar 
to  ordinary  readers  : — 

Pbilo,  de  decern  oraculis. 

Irenaeus,  adv.  haereses. 

Origen,  in  Exodum  horn.  viii. 

Augustine,  epist.  cxcvi.  ad  Asellicum. 

Hugo  de  S.  Victore,  annotationes  elucidatoriae  in  Exodum. 

T.  Aquinas,  summa  theologiae. 

Nicolas  de  Lyra  (d.  1340),  comtn.  in  Exodum. 

Ussher,  abp.  of  Armagh  (d.  1656),  Exposition  of  the  Decalogue, 

Andrewes,  L.,  bp.  of  Winchester  (d.  1625),  A  pattern  of  catechistical 

doctrine. 
Grotius,  H.  (d.  1645),  annotationes  ad  Exodum  c.  xx. 
Cocceius,  Jo.  (d.  1669),  observationes  in  Exodum  c.  xx. 
Nicholson,  W.,  bp.  of  Gloucester  (d.   1671),  An  exposition  of  the 

Catechism  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Barrow,  I.,  Master  of  Trin,  Coll.,  Cambridge  (d.  1677),  Exposition 

of  the  Decalogue. 
Ken,  T.,  bp.  of  Bath  and  Wells  (d.  1711),  The  office  of  divine  love. 
Turretin,  F.  (d.  1737),  Institutio  Theologiae  elencticae  (loc.  xi.  '  De 

lege  Dei '). 
C.  Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers,  comprising  Pirqe  Aboth 

(ed.  2). 

Of  quite  modern  works  on  the  Decalogue  the  late  Dr.  Dale's 
book  The  Ten   Commandments  is  perhaps  the  most  noteworthy. 

R.  L.  O. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 
THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

Character  the  End  of  Religion     . 

I     Different  Aspects  of  the  Decalogue — 
(i)  A  revelation  of  God 

(2)  A  re-enactment  of  the  law  of  Nature 

(3)  A  Law  of  Love       .... 

(4)  A  Law  of  Liberty  .... 

n     Principles  of  Interpretation — 
The  spirituality  of  the  Law. 
Negative  precepts  imply  positive  . 
The  Decalogue  interpreted  in  Christ's  life 
The  Law  and  the  Spirit 

III     Fundamental  Questions  of  Ethics — 
(i)  '  What  is  the  chief  good  ?  '       . 

(2)  '  What  is  the  moral  standard  ?  ' 

(3)  '  What  is  man's  true  end  ?  ' 
Additional  Note  on  '  Self-love  ' 

CHAPTER    II 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DECALOGUE 

History  of  the  Different  Versions 

I     The  Mosaic  origin  of  the  Decalogue  discussed 
Reply  to  various  objections. 


page 

I 

3 
6 

9 
II 

12 
14 
15 

17 

18 

19 
21 

23 


25 

27 
29 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


II     The  charter  of  Jehovah's  covenant  with  Israel 
III     Substance  and  Contents  of  the  Decalogue     . 

Its  function  as  an  instrument  of  moral  education 
IV    The  Decalogue  in  Christian  teaching    . 
V     And  in  Liturgical  Use.  .... 

VI     Arrangement  and  division  of  the  Commandments 
Additional  note  (see  p.  47)  .... 


PAGE 

32 
35 
37 
39 

43 
47 
50 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT 

Relation  of  Religion  to  Morality 

I     Doctrinal  truths  implied  in  the  Commandment 
(i)  The  Divine  personality 
(ii)  The  grace  of  Jehovah 
(iii)  Individual  responsibility, 
(iv)  The  true  end  of  man 

II     Relation  of  the  first  to  the  second  '  Word  '. 
The  knowledge  of  God  the  basis  of  duty 
(i)  The  obligation  of  repentance     . 
(ii)  The  obligation  of   faith    . 
(iii)  The  call  to  devotion 

III  The  Life  of  devotion  :  means  thereto — 
Thanksgiving  ..... 
Detachment  ..... 

Active  lovingkindness  .... 
Prayer  ...... 


53 
54 
54 
56 
58 
60 

63 
65 
66 

71 
75 

76 

77 
78 
78 


CHAPTER    IV 
THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT 
The  Use  of  Images  in  Worship 


81 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

Brief  Survey  of  the   Use  of  Images,  etc.,  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church      ........       83 

I     The  sin  denounced  in  this  Commandment — 

Unworthy  conceptions  of  Deity       ....        85 

II     Positive  duties  impHed  in  the  Commandment — 

(i)  The  duty  of  holy  fear      .....        88 

(2)  The  duty  of  acceptable  worship        •  -  •        93 

CHAPTER    V 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT 

The  Duty  of  Holy  Fear  and  the  Sacredness  of  Speech  99 

The  Title  '  Logos  '  and  its  bearing  upon  Christian  Life          .  10 1 
Practical  Duties  in  regard  to  th3  Use  of  Speech — 

(i)  The  right  use  of  an  oath         .....  103 

(ii)  The  offence  of  profane  swearing      ....  105 

(iii)  The  duty  of  reverence  for   .l-.e  things  of  God           .  107 

(iv)  The  sin  of  unrestrained  crj. ;    sm   ....  108 

Th«  Warning  which  closes  the  Commandment               .         .  109 

CHAPTER    VI 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT 

The  Ground  of  the  Fourth  Commandment     .  .  .113 

Jewish  Observance  of  the  Sabbath     .  .  .  .  .114 

The  Christian  View    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -115 

Elements  in  the  True  Life  of  Man — 

(i)  The  law  of  work    .  .  .  .  .  .  .118 

Modern  social  conditions  :    the  duty  of  the  State  .      119 

(ii)  The  law  of  consecration  or  worship         .  .  .121 

(iii)  The  law  of  recreation   .  .  .  .  .  .124 

(iv)  Sunday  a  day  of  bounty  and  beneficence  .  .      127 

The  Promise  Attached  to  the  Commandment     .  .  .128 

Is'ational  Aspect  pf  Sunday  Observance        .         .  .  .128 


XVI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    VII 


THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT 


Prominence  in  Christ's  Teaching  of  the  Second  Table 

OF  THE  Decalogue     .         .         .         .         .         .         .132 

I     Reciprocal  duties  of  parents  and  children      .  -133 

II     Extension  of  the  idea  of  parentage       .  .  .136 

III  The  principle  of  Authority — 

Its  ground  ........     138 

Its  essential  character  in  the  Church  and  in  the  State     139 

IV  The  sacredness  of  national  life — 

Deference  due  to  the  State.           .          .  .  .140 

Were  the  first  Christians  '  unpatriotic  '  ?  .  .      141 

Reasons  for  their  antagonism  to  the  State  .  .      141 

The  true  functions  of  the  State    .          .  .  .145 

And  of  Christian  citizens  .          .          .  .  .146 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT 

Twofold  Aspect  of  the  Law  of  Justice 

The  Example  of  Christ  ...... 

I     Different  degrees  of  anger  reproved  by  Christ 
The  function  of  resentment. 

II     The  discipline  of  anger         .  .  .  . 

Its  due  measure  and  rightful  objects  . 
Ill     Questions  raised — 

The  lawfulness  of  war.  .  .  .  . 

And  of  capital  punishment  .  .  .  . 

The  sin  of  suicide        .  .  ,  .  . 


150 
150 
151 

152 
154 

156 
157 
'57 


CONTENTS 


xvii 


IV     Christ'3  exposition  of  the  Commandments 
Three  typical  forms  of  Christian  endeavour  . 
The  meaning,  motive  and  pattern  of  almsgiving 
V     Bearing  of  the  Commandment  upon  social  problems 

CHAPTER    IX 
THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT 
The  Place  of  the  Commandment  in  the  Decalogue. 

I     The  significance  of  Christ's  teaching  on  marriage   . 

II     The  meaning  of  purity  ..... 

Purity  a  distinctively  Christian  grace    . 
Aids  and  safeguards  to  purity — 
The  power  of  faith  :   motive  supplied  by  the  Gospel 
The  law  of  mortification 
The  penitential  discipline  of  the  Church 
Other  aids  :   self-denial  and  love    . 
Prayer  and  recollection 
The  preparation  for  wedded  life  . 

Ill     Purity  in  its  higher  sense  :  singleness  of  heart 
Its  reward  and  climax  ... 

CHAPTER    X 
THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT 
The  Institution  of  Property — 

I     Principles  applicable  to  the  use  of  property — 
(i)  The  principle  of  stewardship 
(ii)  And  of  social  solidarity    . 

The  Problem  of  Commercial  Morality 

II     Positive  teaching  of  the  Commandment — 
(i)  The  sense  of  social  obligation    . 
(ii)  The  duty  of  diligence 
(iii)  The  ethics  of  personal  expenditure  . 


PAGE 
158 
160 
161 
165 


169 
170 

174 

177 
177 
178 
179 
180 
181 

182 
183 


185 
187 


190 
191 
194 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    XI 
THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT 


PAGE 


Truthfulness  prescribed  in  the  Third  and  Ninth  Com- 
mandments        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .199 

I     Possible  limits  to  the  duty  of  speaking  the  truth,     201 

II     The  ground  of  the  Ninth  Commandment      .  .     203 

Social  importance  of  truthfulness.  .  .  .     204 

IT  I     Positive  teaching  of  the  Commandment — 

(i)  The  duty  of  sincerity       .....      206 

(ii)  Of  candour  in  statement  .  .  .  .207 

(iii)  Of  charity     .......      209 

(iv)  Of  trustworthiness  and  fidelity       .  .  .211 

CHAPTER    XII 

THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT 

The  most  Comprehensive  of  the  Commandments     .         .213 

The  Consecration  of  Desire  .  .  .  .  .  .214 

The  Commandment  implies — 

(i)  The  spirituality  of  the  law       .  .  .  .215 

(ii)  The  moral  helplessness  of  man         .  .  .216 

I     The  restriction  of  desire       .  .  .  .  .218 

The  duty  of  contentment     .  .  .  .  .219 

of  unworldliness         ......     220 

of  unselfishness  ......     220 

II     The  right  direction  and  consecration  of  desire       .     222 

(i)  God  Himself  '  the  end  of  our  desires  '       .  .      223 

(ii)  The  perfection  of  our  own  nature  .  .  .225 

(iii)  The  presence  of  the  Spirit  in  the  heart  .      226 

III     Conclusion.     The  fulfilment  of  the  righteousness  of 

the  Law  by  Christ  .  .  .  .  .227 

The  Decalogue  and  the  Beatitudes         .  .  .      231 


The    Rule   of  Life   and   Love 

CHAPTER    I 
THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

THERE  are  two  sayings  of  Christ  which,  taken  together, 
seem  to  give  us  the  right  point  of  view  from  which 
the  study  of  the  Decalogue  should  be  approached.  The 
first  is  that  injunction  to  imitate  God  which  occurs  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Ye  therefore  shall  he  perfect,  as  your 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect.^  Man's  true  life  consists  in  an 
ever-growing  likeness  to  God  :  likeness  in  activity,  likeness 
in  character ;  and  since  this  resemblance  depends  upon 
knowledge,  and  knowledge  is  impossible  without  love,^  we 
learn  that,  for  a  Christian,  life  is  love.  It  is  love  that  im- 
parts to  man  that  God-likeness  which  is  the  goal  of  his 
development.^  The  second  passage  which  claims  attention 
is  our  Lord's  reply  to  the  young  ruler  who  asked  Him  con- 
cerning that  which  is  good.  Christ's  answer  to  the  inquiry 
was,  //  thou  wouldest  enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments,^ 
His  meaning  being  further  defined  by  a  reference  to  the 
precepts  of  the  second  table  of  the  Decalogue. 

We  are  thus  led  to  think  of  the  ten  commandments  as 

1  Matt.  V.  48.  »  I  John  iv.  8. 

3  Augustine,  de  moribus  ecclesiae,  xxiii.  :    '  Fit  per  caritatem  ut 
conformemur  Deo.  4  Matt.  xix.  17. 

1 


2  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

the  divinely  given  Rule  of  Life  and  Love.  The  end  of  re- 
ligion is  a  certain  character,  in  virtue  of  which  man  draws 
near  to  God  and  is  enabled  to  *  walk '  with  Him.  In  the 
Decalogue  God  sketches,  as  it  were,  the  main  outlines  of  the 
life  to  which  He  calls  man — the  life  of  union  or  friendship 
with  Himself.  By  keeping  the  commandments  we  enter 
upon  the  path  of  life.  By  keeping  the  commandments  we 
manifest  the  reality  of  our  love  to  God  in  Christ.^  It  is,  in 
fact,  by  a  resolute  dedication  of  our  will  to  goodness — by 
aiming  at  a  certain  character — that  we  respond  to  Christ's 
invitation,  Follow  Me.  His  appeal  is  always  directed  to 
man's  will,  rather  than  to  his  intellect  or  emotion.  His 
benediction  rests  on  them  that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep 
it.  In  days  when  there  is  a  tendency  to  over-value  know- 
ledge and  thought,  and  even  to  glorify  mere  impulse,  it  is 
well  to  remind  ourselves  that  righteousness  is  the  end  of  all 
God's  gifts  to  man — that  on  which  He  has  set  His  heart, 
that  for  which  He  works  in  providence,  that  for  which  He 
has  redeemed  the  world.  The  supreme  end  of  religion  is 
the  formation  of  strong  and  holy  character ;  and  the  mere 
fact  that  the  Decalogue  holds  so  prominent  a  place  in  the 
Bible  is  a  challenge  to  us  to  inquire  whether  goodness  holds 
the  place  it  ought  to  occupy  in  our  aims  and  endeavours ; 
whether  in  our  religious  life  we  are  setting  other  things — 
the  satisfaction  of  our  intellect,  the  advancement  of  our 
church  or  even  our  party,  the  stirring  of  our  emotions  or 
tiie  soothing  of  our  perplexities — above  the  one  thing  need- 
ful ;  above  character ;  above  godliness. 

I 

The  Decalogue  has  had  a  history  concerning  which  some- 
1  John  xiv.  13,  21. 


THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  3 

thing  will  be  said  in  the  next  chapter.  In  its  present  form 
it  obviously  contains  much  more  than  a  mere  outline  of 
duty.  The  moral  precepts  comprised  in  it  are  rooted  in 
certain  revealed  truths  of  religion.  Accordingly  they  are 
to  be  studied,  in  the  first  instance,  as  a  revelation  of  Almighty 
God  :  of  His  nature.  His  character.  His  purpose  for  mankind. 

I.  The  Decalogue,  then,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  Revelation 
of  God.  It  proclaims  what  He  is,  what  He  loves,  what  He 
has  wrought  for  the  salvation  of  man,  what  He  requires  of 
His  creatures. 

Behind  the  Decalogue  lies  the  history  of  the  great  deliver- 
ance of  Israel  from  Egypt.  The  Exodus  was  a  real  inter- 
vention of  God  in  human  history,  in  which  He  manifested 
His  character  and  His  relation  to  man.  Not  merely  through 
the  spoken  word  of  His  accredited  messengers  and  servants, 
but  through  action  He  made  Himself  known  to  the  people 
of  His  choice.  As  a  matter  of  historical  fact.  He  took  Him 
a  nation  from  the  midst  of  another  nation  by  temptations,  by 
signs,  and  by  wonders,  and  by  war,  and  by  a  mighty  hand,  and 
by  a  stretched  out  arm,  and  by  great  terrors.^  The  Hebrew 
nation  was  the  living  and  permanent  monument  of  this 
divine  display  of  grace  and  power.  Israel  was  chosen  out 
of  the  world  and  separated  from  the  heathen  nations  that 
it  might  hear  the  voice,  and  learn  the  will,  of  the  living  God. 
The  history  of  the  deliverance,  in  fact,  impressed  upon  the 
ransomed  people  three  great  truths  of  religion  :  the  ur^ity  of 
God  as  the  supreme  and  incomparable  object  of  worship  ; 
the  holiness  of  God  as  the  Source  and  Guardian  of  the  moral 
law ;  the  redemptive  grace  of  God  as  a  Being  in  Whom  are 
united  infinite  power  and  lovingkindness.  These  truths 
are  taken  for  granted  in  the  precepts  of  the  entire  law  and 

^  Deut.  iv.  34. 


4  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

in  the  spiritual  teaching  of  the  prophets.  They  are  expressly 
indicated  in  the  preamble  to  the  Decalogue :  both  in  the 
divine  Name  which  stands  in  the  forefront,  /  am  Jehovah, 
and  in  the  reference  to  the  historical  deliverance  which 
formed  the  foundation-stone  of  Israel's  national  history. 

The  ten  commandments,  then,  are  delivered  to  man  by  a 
Being  Who  has  a  supreme  claim  on  his  fear,  his  gratitude 
and  his  obedience ;  the  obligations  which  they  impose  are 
those  befitting  a  people  which  has  been  ransomed  from 
bondage,  and  lifted  by  an  act  of  divine  grace  out  of  its  natural 
condition  into  a  position  of  liberty  and  sonship.  The  Re- 
deemer Who  claims  allegiance  is  also  a  righteous  God.  If 
He  condescends  to  visit  man  in  his  helplessness  and  lowliness, 
it  is  that  He  may  raise  him  into  spiritual  fellowship  with 
Himself.  The  call  of  duty  thus  comes  to  us  witt  the  force 
of  a  personal  appeal — the  appeal  of  love.  He  Who  bids  us 
be  holy  for  He  is  holy  reveals  the  glory  of  His  character  as  a 
motive  constraining  us  to  obedience.  Each  of  the  first  five 
commandments  has  a  sanction,  either  prefixed  or  added  to 
a  moral  precept,  which  recalls  some  aspect  of  Jehovah's 
character  and  work.  The  first  commandment  is  in  form 
as  well  as  in  substance  the  appeal  of  the  divine  Deliverer  to 
the  people  which  He  has  redeemed  and  which  He  calls  to 
holiness.  /  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage :  He  to  whom 
thou  must  ever  look  for  salvation  and  grace  to  help  in  time 
of  need.  The  second  '  word  '  makes  mention  of  the  divine 
'  jealousy  ' — that  fire  of  outraged  love  which  cannot  witness 
unmoved  the  rebellion  or  aversion  of  those  whom  Jehovah 
has  borne  on  eagles'  wings  and  has  brought  unto  Himself.^ 
The  third  teaches  that  Jehovah  is  a  holy  God  Who  will  not 

*  Exod.  xix.  4. 


THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  5 

suffer  His  glorious  and  fearful  Name,^  His  revealed  character, 
to  be  lightly  regarded  or  dishonoured.  The  fourth  exalts 
Him  as  a  gracious  Being  Who  has  thoughts  of  peace  and  re- 
freshment for  His  '  desert-wearied  people  '  ;  Who  leads 
them  gently  by  the  hand  of  the  shepherds  of  His  flock  to 
blessedness  and  rest.^  The  fifth  recalls  the  divine  bounty 
and  goodness  which  brought  the  seed  of  Abraham  to  their 
promised  country,  which  is  the  glory  of  all  lands.^  Thus 
Israel's  call  to  service  and  obedience  is  founded  on  the 
character  of  Jehovah.  He  is  not  only  a  God  of  perfect 
holiness,  but  a  God  of  infinite  grace,  requiring  much  of  His 
creatures,  but  giving  what  He  commands.  In  adopting  the 
Hebrew  people  and  liberating  them  from  servitude,  Jehovah 
was  bringing  an  enslaved  and  degraded  race  into  a  filial 
relationship  to  Himself,  and  the  Decalogue  is  a  kind  of  symbol 
or  sacrament  of  this  change  in  Israel's  status.  It  is  calcu- 
lated by  its  references  to  the  lovingkindness  manifested  in 
the  Exodus  to  deliver  men  from  the  temper  of  servile  fear 
and  to  train  them  in  the  spirit  of  devotion  and  love.  The 
disclosure  of  Jehovah's  character  appeals  directly  to  the 
heart  of  man  ;  it  touches  the  springs  of  action  and  motive. 
Thus  by  the  discipline  of  the  law  Israel  was  gradually  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  great  commandment  in  which  the  whole 
law  was  briefly  comprehended  :  Thou  shall  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thine  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all 
thy  might. "^  In  the  events  of  the  Exodus,  then,  we  see  the 
God  of  Israel  educating  His  people  for  the  life  of  divine 
friendship  by  manifesting  Himself  as  the  supremely  worthy 
object   of  its  love.     This  self- disclosure,   recorded  in  the 

1  Deut.  xxviii.  58.  *  See  Jer.  xxix.   11  ;    Isa.  Ixiii.   11. 

3  Ezek.  XX.  6,  15.      Cp.  Deut.  xi.  8-12. 

*  Deut.  vi.  5.    Cp.  Iren.    iv.    16.    3,  where  God  is  described  as 
'  praestruens  hominem  per  decalogum  in  suam  amicitiam.' 


6  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

Decalogue,  was,  speaking  historically,  the  starting-point  of 
a  higher  religion. 

2.  The  Decalogue  may  also  be  studied  in  its  relation  to 
the  Law  of  Nature,  which  it  presupposes  and  interprets. 
Its  various  precepts  embody  the  leading  and  primary  prin- 
ciples of  natural  piety,  justice  and  equity.  The  existence 
of  the  Law  of  Nature  is  taken  for  granted  in  Scripture,  and 
is  attested  alike  by  the  universal  consent  of  nations  and  by 
the  consciences  of  individual  men.  By  early  Christian 
writers  this  Law  is  boldly  identified  with  the  Decalogue. 
Irenaeus,  for  example,  declares  that  in  His  dealings  with 
the  Hebrew  people, '  God  did  at  first  instruct  them  by  means 
of  those  natural  precepts  which  from  the  beginning  He  had 
implanted  in  men,  that  is  to  say,  by  means  of  the  Deca- 
logue ;  and  He  required  of  them  nothing  beyond  this.' 
*  The  patriarchs,'  he  adds,  '  had  the  righteousness  of  the 
Decalogue  engraved  on  their  hearts  and  minds,  inasmuch 
as  they  loved  the  God  Who  made  them,  and  refrained  from 
all  injustice  to  their  neighbour.'  i  The  essential  elements 
of  morality,  according  to  this  view,  pre-existed  in  the  very 
constitution  of  man.  The  moral  law,  in  its  large  outlines, 
was  recognized  by  the  light  of  reason  ;  it  was  not  a  matter 
of  express  revelation  or  of  social  tradition,  but  was,  as  St. 
Paul  points  out,  written  in  the  heart  and  conscience  of 
God's  rational  creatures. ^  In  the  Decalogue  these  primary 
principles  and  duties,  which  had  been  sanctioned  and 
attested  by  the  universal  consent  of  mankind,  were  re-pub- 

1  Iren.  iv.  15.  i  ;  16.  3.  Cp.  TertuUian,  adv.  Jiidaeos,  2  :  '  De- 
nique  ante  legem  Moysi  scriptam  in  tabulis  lapideis,  legem  fuisse 
contendo  non  scriptam,  quae  naturaliter  inteUigebatur,  et  a  patribus 
custodiebatur.'  T.  Aquinas,  Summa,  i.  ii".  99.  2  ad  i  :  '  Sicut 
gratia  praesupponit  naturam,  ita  oportet  quod  lex  divina  praesup- 
ponat  legem  naturalem.' 

2  Rom.  i.  19,  20  ;    ii.  14,  15. 


THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  7 

lished  in  a  clear  and  permanent  form,  to  serve  as  a  kind  of 
groundwork  upon  which  human  hfe  might  be  built  up  anew 
and  developed  in  accordance  with  the  original  purpose  of 
the  Creator.  The  life  of  friendship  or  communion  with 
God  was  that  to  which  all  men,  as  men,  were  called.  Again 
to  quote  Irenaeus, '  it  was  by  way  of  training  men  beforehand 
for  such  a  life  that  the  Lord  Himself  uttered  to  all  mankind 
alike  the  words  of  the  Decalogue  ;  and  for  this  reason  those 
precepts  remain  equally  in  force  amongst  us,  receiving  ex- 
tension and  enlargement,  but  not  annulment,  through  His 
advent  in  the  flesh. '^ 

The  reasons  for  this  solemn  re-publication  of  the  Law  of 
Nature  are  not  far  to  seek.  The  Hebrews  through  the  in- 
fluence of  their  idolatrous  surroundings  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
the  heathen  through  continual  unfaithfulness  to  the  light 
of  reason,  had  lost  any  clear  and  vital  perception  of  the 
divine  Nature  and  Will.  Knowing  God,  the  Gentiles  glorified 
Him  not  as  God,  neither  gave  thanks  ;  hut  became  vain  in  their 
reasonings,  and  their  senseless  heart  was  darkened.-  To- 
gether with  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  apprehension  of  the 
law  of  righteousness  gradually  became  dim  and  evanescent. 
In  the  language  of  Scripture,  Sin  entered  into  the  worlds 
and  the  consequence  of  sin  was  a  widespread  moral  deteri- 
oration, which  seems  in  part  at  least  to  have  been  promoted 
rather  than  retarded  by  man's  advance  in  civilization.* 

1  Iren.  iv.  16.  4.  ^  Rom.  i.  21.  3  Rom.  v.  12, 

*  This  is  touched  upon  by  Darwin,  Descent  of  Man,  p.  46.  The 
following  passage  from  the  Discourses  of  John  Smith,  the  Cambridge 
Platonist,  well  illustrates  the  point : — 

'  Reason  in  man  being  Lumen  de  lumine,  a  light  flowing  from  the 
Fountain  and  Father  of  lights,  and  being,  as  Tully  phraseth  it, 
participata  similitudo  rationis  aeternae  (as  the  Law  of  Nature,  the 
law  written  in  man's  heart,  is  pavticipatio  legis  aeternae  in  vationali 
creatura)  it  was  to  enable  man  to  work  out  for  himself  all  those 


8  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

Here  we  touch  upon  facts  of  universal  experience  ;  facts 
which  form  the  basis  of  the  whole  idea  of  a  divine  redemp- 
tion. The  entire  movement  of  which  the  Bible  is  the  record 
—the  divine  movement  towards  man  for  his  deliverance 
and  renewal — was  occasioned  by  the  actual  situation  in 
which  our  race  was  involved.  Accordingly,  in  an  authori- 
tative revelation  of  the  divine  will  the  foundation  of  the 
redemptive  work  was  laid.  Just  as  the  events  of  the  Exodus 
manifested  the  purpose  and  the  character  of  Israel's  Re- 
deemer, so  the  delivery  of  the  Decalogue  lifted  once  more 
into  prominence  that  Law  of  Nature  which  was  in  danger  of 
being  ignored  or  forgotten,  and  vindicated  once  for  all  the 
supreme  principle  of  religion  that  the  moral  law  is  the 
link  that  unites  God  to  man,  the  essential  condition  for 
fellowship  with  Deity. 

It  is  this  which  gives  eternal  significance  to  the  ancient 
story  of  Israel's  redemption.  '  God  brought  the  people  out 
of  Egypt  with  power,'  writes  Irenaeus,  '  in  order  that  man  ' 
(not  merely  Israel,  but  mankind  in  general)  '  might  once 
more  become  a  disciple  and  follower  of  God.'  At  the  same 
time  the  Decalogue  supplemented  the  Law  of  Nature  in  three 
ways.  It  extended  the  range  of  morality  so  as  to  embrace 
the  region  of  thought,  motive  and  desire,  demanding  an 

notions  of  God  which  are  the  true  ground-work  of  love  and  obedience 
to  God  and  conformity  to  Him  :  and  in  moulding  the  inward  man 
into  the  greatest  conformity  to  the  Nature  of  God  was  the  perfection 
and  efficacy  of  the  ReUgion  of  Nature.  But  since  man's  fall  from 
God,  the  inward  virtue  and  vigour  of  reason  is  much  abated  ;  .  .  . 
those  principles  of  divine  truth  which  were  first  engraven  upon 
man's  heart  with  the  finger  of  God  are  now,  as  the  characters  of 
some  ancient  monuments,  less  clear  and  legible  than  at  first.  And 
therefore  besides  the  truth  of  natural  inscription  God  hath  provided 
the  truth  of  divine  revelation,  which  issues  forth  from  His  own  free 
will  and  clearly  discovers  the  way  of  our  return  to  God,  from  whom 
we  are  fallen.'  {The  Excellency  and  Nobleness  of  True  Religion,  ch.  i.) 


THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  9 

inward  and  voluntary  consecration  as  well  as  an  outward 
conformity  to  law.  Again,  by  thus  raising  indefinitely  the 
standard  of  moral  action,  it  necessarily  kindled  in  man  the 
sense  of  shortcoming  and  the  longing  for  a  power  that  would 
enable  him  to  satisfy  the  divine  requirement.  Lastly  it 
coupled  with  the  requirement  of  obedience  an  express  declara- 
tion of  the  redemptive  love  of  Israel's  Redeemer,  pointing, 
as  it  were,  to  Him  Who  gives  the  Law  as  the  source  of  grace 
to  fulfil  it. 

3.  Thirdly,  the  Decalogue  may  be  regarded  as  essentially 
a  Law  of  Love.  This  is  explicitly  declared  by  our  Lord  in 
His  memorable  reply  to  the  question.  Which  is  the  great 
commandment  of  the  Law  ?^  but  it  seems  to  be  also  sug- 
gested by  the  prefatory  words,  /  am  the  Lord  thy  God — an 
expression  which  makes  a  direct  and  personal  appeal  to 
man's  heart.  In  substance  the  Decalogue  anticipates  the 
teaching  of  the  new  commandment  of  love.  Just  as  it  re- 
enforces  the  Law  of  Nature,  so  it  comprehends  all  moral 
duties  that  are  involved  in  the  love  of  God  and  of  our  neigh- 
bour. Indeed,  since  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law,^  the 
Decalogue  in  some  sense  comprehends  those  special  precepts 
which  seem  to  be  added  to  the  Law  by  Christ.  Even  the 
duty  which  seems  most  distinctive  of  the  Gospel — the  call 
to  deny  self,  to  take  up  the  cross  and  to  fellow  Christ — is 
implicitly  contained  in  it,  inasmuch  as  wholehearted  love 
to  God  includes  a  perfect  willingness  to  do  and  to  endure 
whatever  love  enjoins.  We  must  remember  that  in  speaking 
of  the  Law  of  Love  as  the  great  commandment,  our  Lord 
seems  to  teach  that  it  is  great  not  merely  in  respect  of  the 
Being  Who  claims  man's  obedience,  but  great  also  in  the 
illimitable  range  of  its  moral  content.     To  love  God  with  aU 

1  Matt.  xxii.  37-39.  ^  Rom.  xiii.  8-10. 


10  THE  RULE   OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

the  heart  and  soul  and  mind  demands  the  entire  consecration 
of  all  faculties  and  all  gifts :  the  regulation  in  accordance 
with  a  single  principle  of  all  life  and  action.  As  St.  Bernard 
says,  '  The  limit  of  love  to  God  is  to  love  Him  without 
limit.'  1 

The  appeal  of  love,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  is  addressed 
in  the  first  instance  to  the  people  of  God's  especial  choice, 
who  (as  their  own  prophets  bore  witness)  were  bound  by 
so  deep  an  obligation  of  gratitude  to  the  service  of  their 
Redeemer.  But  the  God  of  Israel  is  also  the  Hope  of  all 
nations  and  the  Saviour  of  the  individual  soul.  The  per- 
sonal form  of  the  commandments  '  Thou  shalt,'  '  Thou 
shalt  not,'  implies  the  call  not  only  of  all,  but  of  each,  into 
fellowship  with  the  Creator.  We  find  a  marked  approach 
towards  this  individuahzing  of  reHgion  and  ethics  in  the 
Book  of  Psalms.  Here  the  national  and  theocratic  point 
of  view  tends  to  disappear  and  to  give  way  to  that  of  the 
individual  soul.  The  Psalmist  addresses  the  God  of  his 
fathers  and  of  his  nation  as  '  My  God.'  To  him  rehgion 
consists  in  a  personal  relationship  of  love  ;  it  means  the 
discovery  that  Jehovah  cares  for  the  individual  soul  in 
its  frailty  and  solitariness  ;  the  consciousness  that  God 
alone  is  the  satisfying  object  of  the  soul's  thirst,  its  refuge, 
its  portion  for  ever.     Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee,  and 

1  Cp.  John  Smith,  Discourses,  'The  Excellency  and  Nobleness 
of  True  Religion,'  ch.  2  : — '  By  self-denial  I  mean,  the  soul's 
quitting  all  its  own  interest  in  itself,  and  an  entire  resignation  of 
itself  to  Him  as  to  all  points  of  service  and  duty  :  and  thus  the 
soul  loves  itself  in  God,  and  lives  in  the  possession  not  so  much 
of  its  own  being  as  of  the  Divinity  ;  desiring  only  to  be  great  in 
God,  to  glory  in  His  light,  and  spread  itself  in  His  fulness,  to  be 
filled  always  by  Him,  and  to  empty  itself  again  into  Him  ;  to 
receive  all  from  Him,  and  to  expend  all  for  Him  :  and  so  to  hve 
not  as  its  own,  but  as  God's.' 


THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  ii 

there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  in  comparison  of  Thee  ? 
The  very  word  Thou  in  the  Decalogue  conveys  an  indi- 
vidual appeal ;  it  places  all  men  on  a  level,  and  testifies 
that  all  alike,  whatever  be  their  rank  and  condition,  are 
dependent  on  God's  bounty  and  summoned  to  His  service  ;  * 
it  calls  each  one  into  the  life  of  divine  friendship,  and  opens 
to  each  the  door  of  moral  opportunity. 

4.  Finally  we  may  study  the  Decalogue  as  a  Law  of 
Liberty.  When  it  was  first  delivered  to  the  Hebrew  tribes 
it  wore  this  aspect :  it  formed  a  kind  of  charter  of  their 
enfranchisement  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  The  God 
Who  made  known  His  will  and  purpose  in  the  moral  law 
was  He  Who  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt  with  a  stretched 
out  arm  and  with  great  judgments.  When  He  laid  upon 
His  people  the  merciful  yoke  of  the  law  and  brought  it 
into  the  bond  of  the  covenant,^  He  was  actually  educating 
men  and  leading  them  onwards  towards  the  freedom  of 
the  Spirit.  The  New  Testament  never  allows  us  to  over- 
look the  typical  significance  of  the  historic  deliverance 
which  welded  the  loosely  organized  tribes  into  a  strong 
nation.  The  bondage  of  Egypt  was  a  type  of  the  slavery 
of  sin.  ^  The  redemption  of  Israel  foreshadowed  the  spiritual 
deliverance  which  was  destined  to  be  wrought  in  Christ. 
The  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  man  constitutes  the 
perfect  law  of  liberty ^  In  the  school  of  Jesus  Christ  man 
learned  once  for  all  that  true  freedom  consists  in  the  har- 
mony of  his  will  with  that  of  God  ;  that  '  freedom  '  implies 
liberty  not  to  sin:  *  liberty  to  be  and  to  do  all  that  God 

*  *  Dicit  lex  aov  :  unitatis  numero  singulos  alloquitur  ut  ostendat 
non  aliam  hie  esse  viri  principis  quam  minimi  de  plebe  Hebraei 
conditionem . ' — Grotius . 

*  Exek.  XX.  37.        '  John  viii.  34  ;    Rom.  vi.  6.       *  Jas.  i.  25. 
5  Cp.  Augustine,  de  civ.  Dei,  xiv.  11  :  '  Arbitrium  libertatis  tunc 

est  vere  Uberum  cum  peccatis  non  servit,' 


12  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

wills :    to  fulfil  in  the  spirit  of  love  that  law  which  is  the 
self-disclosure  of  love. 

II 

The  foregoing  survey  of  the  Decalogue  in  its  different 
aspects  :  as  a  revelation  of  God,  a  re-publication  of  the  law 
of  nature,  a  law  of  love,  a  law  of  liberty,  leads  us  next  to 
consider  the  principles  which  ought  to  guide  us  in  our 
interpretation  of  the  several  commandments  and  in  our 
application  of  them  to  the  circumstances  of  modern  life. 

I.  First,  we  must  ever  remember  that  the  Law  is  spiritual.^ 
It  is  a  self-disclosure  of  Him  Who  is  Spirit,  and  Who  is 
quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart}  It 
demands  no  merely  external  conformity  to  rules  of  conduct, 
but  the  submission  of  the  heart  and  will  to  the  living  claim 
of  truth.  We  should  notice  that  in  the  Old  Testament 
itself  a  spiritual  fulfilment  of  even  ceremonial  ordinances 
is  enjoined.  The  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  for  example, 
expressly  declares  the  moral  significance  of  circumcision. 
The  outward  rite  is  the  symbol  of  an  inward  and  spiritual 
self- consecration  to  Jehovah.^  Again,  all  the  precepts 
that  inculcate  acts  of  neighbourly  kindness  or  humanity 
point  beyond  the  letter  of  the  law  to  a  certain  disposition 
or  spirit  seeking  to  imitate  the  lovingkindness  of  the 
divine  King  of  Israel  Himself.*  Regard  is  to  be  had  not 
only  to  the  rights,  but  also  to  the  necessities,  of  the  widow 
and  the  orphan,  the  poor  and  the  stranger,  nor  are  the 
claims  of  the  brute  creation  overlooked.  This  feature  is 
chiefly  characteristic  of  Deuteronomy,  but  the  Book  of 
Leviticus  is  by  no  means  wanting  in  passages  of  similar 

1   Rom.  vii.   14.  *  Heb.  iv.   12. 

*  Deut.  X.   16  ;    Jer.  iv.  4  ;    Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 
4  e.g.,  Exod.  xxiii.  0,  5.     Cp.  Prov.  xxv.  21. 


THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE  13 

purport,  culminating  in  the  comprehensive  injunction  of 
Leviticus  xix.  18,  Thou  shall  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself. 
The  Old  Testament  thus  itself  anticipates  that  extension 
of  the  moral  law  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Gospel. 
The  aim  and  tendency  of  the  law  is  plainly  evident  in  the 
spiritual  affections  which  find  utterance  in  the  Book  of 
Psalms  :  that  spirit  of  boundless  devotion  to  God,  that  entire 
delight  in  His  commandments  which  is  the  theme  of  such 
Psalms  as  the  cxixth.  These  embody  the  very  soul  and 
substance  of  spiritual  religion ;  they  display  the  matured 
fruit  of  that  long  and  severe  legal  schoohng  through  which 
Hebrew  religion  had  to  pass  before  it  could  attain  its  appro- 
priate climax  and  crown  in  the  Christian  character,  in  the 
mind  and  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ.^  In  Christ  was  finally 
manifested  the  consummation  towards  which  the  discip- 
line of  the  law  tended  from  the  first :  the  self-oblation  of 
a  perfectly  filial  will.^ 

We  are  then  justified  in  saying  that  in  the  Decalogue 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  religion  of  the  Spirit :  that 
inward  devotion  to  God  and  to  the  cause  of  His  kingdom 
which  has  its  root  in  '  the  great  fixed  law  of  moral  right, 
ruling  with  no  reserves  over  the  inner  and  unseen  life.'  * 
Faith  in  God  putting  forth  its  blossom  in  the  fulfilment  of 
duty  and  bearing  its  fruit  in  the  life  of  love — such  is  in  brief 
the  best  idea  we  can  form  of  a  spiritual  religion,  claiming 
for  God  human  life  in  its  entirety,  and  teaching  that  all 

1  Warde  Fowler,  The  Religious  Experience  of  the  Roman  People, 
p.  9,  observes  that  Ps.  cxix.  represents  the  high-water  mark  of  the 
rehgious  feeUng  of  the  most  religious  people  of  antiquity.  It  is 
'  a  magnificent  declaration  of  conformity  to  the  will  of  God,  i.e., 
of  the  desire  to  be  in  right  relation  to  Him.' 

2  Heb.  X.  5-10. 

3  See  Dean  Church's  beautiful  book,  The  Discipline  of  the  Christian 
Character, 


14  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

duties  are  to  be  done  as  unto  the  Lord  :  in  dependence  on 
His  grace  and  with  an  eye  only  to  His  will. 

2.  The  Decalogue,  then,  is  to  be  interpreted  spiritually 
as  regulating  not  only  outward  conduct  and  behaviour, 
but  the  inner  life  of  thought,  feeling  and  motive. 

Another  principle  of  interpretation  which  appears  to  be 
sanctioned  by  New  Testament  usage,  is  that  the  negative 
form  of  the  commandments  is  intended  to  suggest  positive 
precepts.  The  evil  to  be  eschewed  implies  an  ideal  standard 
of  right  to  be  embraced.  Conversely,  those  precepts  which 
in  form  are  positive  (the  fourth  and  fifth)  imply  prohibi- 
tions. This  principle  seems  to  be  clearly  indicated  by  our 
Lord  in  His  brief  reference  to  some  of  the  commandments. 
In  the  prohibition  of  murder,  not  only  is  the  passion  of 
hatred  or  resentment  which  leads  to  it  excluded,  but 
the  law  of  active  charity  even  towards  enemies  is  inculcated. 

In  the  same  way  St.  Paul  implies  that  the  eighth  com- 
mandment lays  down  the  principle  of  Christian  generosity 
or  beneficence.^  Moreover,  if  the  commandments  deal 
with  effects,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  causes  are  included  : 
e.g.,  murder  includes  all  vindictive  anger,  adultery  all  in- 
ordinate appetites  of  the  flesh,  etc.  By  analogy,  in  a 
precept  which  regulates  relationship,  other  sides  of  the 
relationship  are  included.  The  fifth  commandment,  for 
example,  includes  duties  of  parents  to  children,  superiors 
to  inferiors,  etc.  This  may  be  called  the  principle  of  exten- 
sion or  inclusion  [synecdoche).  In  fact,  the  general  obliga- 
tion implied  in  each  single  commandment  is  applicable  to 
all  possible  relationships  of  an  analogous  kind  in  which 
man  can  stand  to  his  fellows,  for  Homo  homini  proximus.* 

*  Eph.  iv.  28. 

2  Iren.  iv.  13.  4.  So  Cicero,  de  officiis,  iii.  6.  27,  says  it  is  a  '  law 
of  nature '  that  each  man  should  consult  the  interests  of  each. 


THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE  15 

3.  Another  principle  to  be  kept  steadily  in  view  is  that 
the  Decalogue  finds  its  true  interpretation  not  so  much 
in  the  express  teaching  of  Christ  as  in  His  life  and  actions. 
In  Him  the  Law  is,  so  to  speak,  embodied  ;  it  is  manifested 
in  its  full  scope  and  in  its  applications.  The  Decalogue 
is  a  Law  of  love  and  Christ's  hfe  is  the  Life  of  love.  The 
Decalogue  embodies  the  will  of  God,  and  as  St.  Cyprian 
says  :  '  The  will  of  God  is  that  which  Christ  fulfilled  in 
act  and  taught  in  words.'  ^  He  exhibited  that  aspect  of 
love  to  which  each  commandment  points :  occasionally 
indeed  in  typical  actions  (as  in  those  special  works  of  mercy 
which  He  wrought  on  the  Sabbath  day),  but  continually 
in  the  spirit  of  His  whole  Hfe.  We  may  think  of  Him  as 
fulfilling  the  first  and  second  commandments  in  His  un- 
ceasing devotion  to  God  (Matt.  iv.  4,  10)  ;  the  third  in  the 
godly  fear  with  which  He  submitted  to  the  Father's  will 
(Heb.  V.  7)  ;  the  fourth  in  the  zeal  with  which  He  went 
about  doing  good  ;  the  fifth  in  His  conformity  to  the  Jewish 
law  and  in  His  subjection  to  earthly  parents  and  rulers  ;  ^ 
the  sixth  in  the  whole  tenor  of  His  life  :  the  life  of  One 
Who  came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives  hut  to  save  them  (Luke 
ix.  56,  marg.)  ;  the  seventh  in  the  consecration  of  His 
sacred  Body  to  the  divine  service  (Heb.  x.  5)  ;  the  eighth 
in  the  unreserved  communication  of  Himself  to  men — 
the  giving  of  Himself  for  the  hfe  of  the  world ;  the  ninth 
in  the  steadfastness  of  His  testimony  to  the  truth  (John 
xviii.  37)  ;  the  tenth  in  the  perfectness  of  that  inward 
sanctity  by  which  He  was  ever  well-pleasing  to  the  Father. 

This  principle  of  interpretation  corresponds,  of  course, 
to  the  fact  that  the  true  righteousness  was  exhibited  to 

1  de  or  at.  Dominica,  xv.  :  ^  '  Voluntas  autem  Dei  est,  quam  Christus 
et  fecit  et  docuit.'     See  the  whole  passage. 

2  See  also  John  viii.  49.^ 


i6  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

the  world  not  in  formal  precepts,  not  in  a  fixed  moral  code, 
but  in  a  human  life.  The  life  of  Jesus  Christ  was  the  per- 
fect commentary  upon  His  teaching.  He  pointed  men  to 
God's  Law — What  is  wviiten  in  the  Law  ?  How  readest 
thou  ?  1  When  questioned  concerning  the  way  of  life  He 
mentions  particularly  the  precepts  of  the  second  table, 
but  He  supplements  His  teaching  by  pointing  to  Himself, 
Follow  Me.'  It  is  only  in  a  personal  pattern  that  wc  can 
study  the  way  in  which  the  varied  duties  involved  in  dif- 
ferent relationships  can  be  actually  and  harmoniously 
fulfilled.  So  that  for  Christians,  the  thought  of  the  imi- 
tation of  Christ  tends  to  overshadow  the  thought  of  keeping 
the  commandments  of  God.     For  in  Him  we  see 

'  How  love  might  be,  hath  been  indeed,  and  is,' 

love  issuing 

'  in  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds. 
More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought.' 

His  comprehensive  invitation  to  His  disciples,  Follow  Me, 
is  a  call  to  be  what  He  was,  not  in  the  outward  circum- 
stances of  Ufe,  but  in  spirit  and  character  ;  a  call  not  merely 
to  obey  an  abstract  law,  but  to  walk  in  love.^ 

The  question  whether  the  Decalogue  constitutes  an 
ideally  perfect  rule  of  life  was  a  thesis  sometimes  discussed 
in  the  seventeenth  century.*  Against  the  Socinians  and 
others  who  maintained  that  Christ  supplemented  (e.g.,  by 
His  law  of  self-denial)  the  moral  precepts  of  the  ancient 
Law,  it  was  argued  that  the  Decalogue  was  '  perfect '  if 
interpreted  aright.  Christ  came  to  fulfil  the  Law  not  in 
the  sense  of  supplying  its  defects  or  correcting  its  mistakes, 

1  Luke  X.  26.  *  Mark  x.  21.  ^  Eph.  v.  2. 

*  See  for  instance  Turrctin,  Inst,  theol.  elenct.  loc.  xi.  qiiaest.  3. 
'  Dc  perfcctione  Icgis  moralis,' 


THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE  17 

but  in  the  sense  of  exhibiting  its  essential  meaning  and 
spirit  in  a  life.  '  Christ,'  says  Turretin,  '  fulfilled  the  Law 
not  by  adding  to  it  or  correcting  it,  but  by  observing  it  and 
carrying  it  out  in  act.'  The  question  is  one  that  may  be 
differently  answered  from  different  standpoints.  It  is 
true  that  the  Decalogue  regulates  the  spirit  in  which  man's 
relationship  to  God  and  to  his  fellow  is  to  be  fulfilled  :  but 
it  is  manifest  that  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel  in  a  sense 
transforms  the  character  of  this  relationship.  It  declares 
the  divine  sonship  of  man  in  Christ.  Henceforth,  therefore, 
the  observance  of  the  commandments  is  of  necessity  a 
service  of  filial  love,  and  the  scope  and  intention  of  the 
different  precepts  is  revealed  in  the  life  of  Him  Who  is  the 
perfect  pattern  of  sonship. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Gospel  proclaims  the  real  presence 
and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  so  that  the  Christian 
life  implies  the  fulfilment  of  the  ancient  law  in  dependence 
upon  the  power  of  a  new  spirit.  It  is  not  the  Law  which 
is  changed :  St.  John  teaches  that  the  new  commandmenl 
which  he  writes  to  the  Church  is  the,  old  commandment  which 
it  had  from  the  beginning.'^  It  is  the  heart  of  man  that  is 
renewed  by  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Moreover,  the 
Old  Testament  itself  had  laid  down  the  broad  principle  of 
interpretation  which  the  New  Testament  applies  to  the 
Decalogue.  In  the  love  of  God,  as  we  have  seen,  the  rule 
of  Christ-like  self-denial  is  included.  In  the  precept  Be 
ye  holy  for  I  am  holy^  is  implied  the  imitation  of  God, 
Our  Lord  Himself  recognizes  the  finality  and  authorita- 
tiveness  of  the  Decalogue,  simply  because  its  scope  and  aim 
is  the  all-embracing  principle  of  love.  'The  new  law,' 
in  fact,  '  lies  concealed  in  the  old  as  the  corn  in  the  ear, 

*   I  John  ii.  7,  8.  2j^ev.  xi.44. 


i8  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

as  the  tree  in  the  seed.'  ^  Consequently  Irenaeus  is 
justified  in  making  a  statement  which  at  first  sight  seems 
paradoxical : 

'  The  commandments  pertaining  to  life  in  its  perfection 
being  one  and  the  same  in  both  Testaments,  they  manifest 
one  and  the  same  Deity,  Who  ordained  certain  precepts 
adapted  to  the  special  needs  of  a  particular  time  ;  but  the 
more  prominent  and  important  precepts,  without  which 
salvation  is  impossible,  were  identical  in  both.'  ^ 

III 

It  will  have  appeared  that  the  Decalogue,  interpreted 
by  the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  finds  a  per- 
manent place  in  Christian  ethics,  not  as  a  mere  code  of 
rules,  but  as  defining  in  outline  the  relationship  of  the 
human  soul  to  God  and  to  all  that  He  has  made. 

For  there  are  three  fundamental  questions  to  which 
the  Gospel,  in  so  far  as  it  contains  an  ethical  system,  neces- 
sarily gives  an  answer.  In  each  case  the  answer  seems 
to  be  anticipated  in  the  Decalogue. 

I.  To  the  question  '  What  is  the  chief  good  ?  '  a  response 
is  implied  in  the  first  commandment,  /  am  the  Lord  thy 
God  :  thou  shalf  have  none  other  gods  but  Me.  God  Himself 
is  the  chief  good — not  (as  the  Greeks  supposed  when  they 
spoke  in  neuter  terms  of  '  the  good,'  ro  aya66v),  an  abstract 
state  or  condition  of  well-being,  but  He  Who  is  good 
(6  dya06<;)  '  :  a  Person  Who  can  be  loved  and  served  ;  Who 
can  make  Himself  known  and  communicate  Himself  to 
His  creatures  ;  Who  is  '  good  '  not  with  this  or  that  kind 
of  goodness,  but  '  good  '  absolutely  in  His  nature  and  in 

'  Aquinas,  Swwwff/i.  ii".  107.I3.         ^  Iren.  iv.   12.  3. 
'  Matt.  xix.   17. 


THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE  19 

His  gifts  ;  in  the  exercise  of  His  power  and  in  the  mani- 
festation of  His  character.  All  good  flows  from  Him  ;  the 
gifts  of  Nature  by  which  He  satisfies  the  physical  needs 
or  makes  glad  the  heart  of  man ;  the  gifts  of  imagination, 
of  intellect,  of  genius,  by  which  the  level  of  human  civiliza- 
tion is  progressively  raised ;  the  knowledge  of  that  moral 
law— the  law  of  holiness  and  truth — which  is  identical 
with  His  own  being ;  and  finally,  that  power  to  fulfil  the 
law  with  alacrity  and  joy  which  is  the  fruit  of  the  divine 
indwelling.  For  it  is  characteristic  of  the  chief  good  that 
it  imparts  itself  in  response  to  a  fundamental  need  and 
instinctive  desire  of  human  nature.  To  '  have  none  other 
god '  implies  that  in  God  Himself  the  soul  '  has  '  all  that  it 
needs  for  the  life  of  blessedness.  He  is  Himself  the  answer 
to  every  prayer  and  the  fulfilment  of  every  heavenward 
aspiration.  For  He  is  good.  '  As  the^life  of  the  flesh,'  says 
Augustine,  '  is  the  soul ;  so  God  Himself  is  the  blessed  life 
of  the  soul.'  ^  Man's  thirst  for  God  is  his  thirst  for  the 
chief  good  :  a  good  which  satisfies  his  highest  capacities 
and  noblest  instincts  :  fellowship  with  a  Being  in  Whom 
his  nature  can  find  satisfaction  and  rest.  It  is  no  mere 
'  thing  '  or  '  state  of  being '  that  can  be  to  us  all  that  we 
need  and  all  that  we  are  capable  of  becoming ;  it  is  only 
a  Person — a  Being  Who  wills  and  loves  and  understands 
— Who  can  be  to  man  the  goal  of  his  pilgrimage  and  the  home 
of  his  spirit. 
2.  Another  fundamental  question  of  ethics  :    What  is 

*  de  civit.  Dei,  xix.  26.  Elsewhere  he  speaks  of  God  as  the  Author 
of  the  vita  beata,  '  non  de  his  quae  condidit,  sed  de  se  Ipso  (ib.  x. 
18).  Cp.  de  mor.  ecclesiae,  xiii.  :  '  Bonorum  summa  Deus  nobis 
est '  ;  and  Anselm,  Proslogion,  xxv.  :  '  Ama  unum  bonum  in  quo 
sunt  omnia  bona  at  sufi&cit.  Desidera  simplex  bonum,  quod  est 
omne  bonum,  et  satis  est.' 


20  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

the  standard  of  right  and  wrong  ?  The  Gospel  answers, 
The  holy  will  of  God.  We  learn  that  will  in  nature,  in 
providence,  in  the  moral  law,  whether  implanted  in  man 
at  his  creation  or  more  clearly  defined  by  revelation.  But 
it  is  in  the  Person  of  Christ  Himself  that  the  will  of  God 
for  man  is  perfectly  made  known :  in  what  He  preached, 
in  what  He  did,  in  what  He  endured.  ^  We  must  remember, 
further,  that  though  our  Lord  taught  us  so  much  about 
the  ways  of  God,  and  though  He  pointed  to  Himself  as 
One  Who  came  not  to  do  His  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him 
that  sent  Him,  yet  He  sends  those  who  would  know  and 
follow  the  way  of  life  back  to  the  Decalogue — extricating 
the  principles  which  underlie  the  several  commandments 
and  illustrating  them  by  His  own  example.  In  the  Deca- 
logue we  find  the  broad  outlines  of  God's  will :  nor  are 
we  allowed  to  forget  that  the  will  of  God  is  not  capricious 
or  arbitrary.  Moral  distinctions  do  not,  as  some  followers 
of  Duns  Scotus  seem  to  have  imagined,  depend  upon  the 
fiat  of  God's  will.  They  are  rather  the  expression  of  His 
essential  nature  and  character.  The  will  of  God  (as  in 
man)  does  not  manifest  itself  in  isolation  from  the  divine 
reason  and  the  divine  love.  Personality  as  we  know  it 
in  man,  and  as  we  are  compelled  to  think  of  it  in  God,  acts 
as  an  undivided  whole.  The  will  of  God  for  the  perfection 
of  His  creatures— that  will  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  abso- 
lutely as  the  will,  and  elsewhere  describes  more  fully  as 
the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God  - — is  in  itself 
the  law  of  moral  duty  :  conversely,  the  Decalogue  is  rather 
a  gracious  manifestation  of  the  divine  requirement,  than 

1  TertuUian,  de  oratione,  4  :    '  Est  ilia  voluntas  quam  Dominus 
administravit   praedicando,   operando,   sustinendo.'     Cp.   Cyprian, 

de  oral.  Doni.  xu. 

-  Roixi.  ii.   18  ;    xii.  z. 


THE  RULE   OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE  21 

a  disciplinary  code.^  Its  brief,  stern  precepts  cannot  be 
separated  in  thought  from  the  merciful  Being  from  Whom 
they  emanate.  Only  through  obedience  to  them  do  we 
fulfil  the  true  law  of  our  nature  ;  only  by  keeping  the  com- 
mandments do  we  respond,  as  we  ought,  to  the  love  of  God 
manifested  in  Jesus  Christ. 

3 .  One  more  ethical  question  arises :  What  is  the  true 
end  of  man  ?  We  may  answer,  Life  in  God  and  unto 
God.  Summum  honum,  says  Augustine,  est  summe  esse ;  ^ 
and  only  in  union  with  God  does  man  attain  to  the  life 
indeed :  the  life  which  is  freedom,  joy,  love,  likeness  to 
God.  Now,  as  we  have  already  reminded  ourselves,  our 
Lord  expressly  teaches  that  the  way  to  enter  into  life  is 
to  keep  the  commandments.^  He  came  into  the  world  to 
impart  life  in  more  abundant  measure,  in  greater  intensity 
(so  to  speak),  than  had  been  possible  before  His  coming. 
The  Decalogue,  then,  opens  to  us  the  way  of  life.  The 
heightened  energies  and  capacities  of  the  Christian  indwelt 
by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  are  to  be  manifested  to  the  full ; 
but  the  exercise  of  them  is  to  be  regulated  and  harmonized 
by  faithful  adherence  to  the  rule  of  life  and  love  given  in 
the  commandments.  For  when  we  read  of  His  (that  is, 
God's)  commandments,'^  we  are  meant  to  understand 
that  the  sum  of  the  moral  teaching  given  at  each  stage  of 
man's  progress  is  the  one  commandment  of  love.  Through 
obedience  we  prove  our  love,  and  through  love  we  enter 
into  fellowship  with  God.  Just  as  the  title  Jesus  Christ 
contains  a  '  compressed  Creed  '  ;  so  the  commandment 
of  love  comprises  the  whole  of  that  moral  law  which  is 

1  Thus  in  Heb.  ii.  2  the  Law  is  called  Aoyos — '  divine  utterance  ' 
or  '  revelation.'     See  Westcott  ad  loc. 

2  de  vera  relig.  xviii. 

2  Matt,  xix,  17.  *  I  John  iii.  22,  24  ;    cp.  23. 


22  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

explicitly  taught  in  the  ten  commandments,  and  which 
forms  the  link  between  the  divine  and  the  human. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  the  breadth  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  the  Decalogue.  It  is  as  broad  in  its 
range  as  human  life  itself ;  it  teaches  the  right  fulfilment 
of  every  human  relationship  ;  in  its  aim  and  spirit  it  har- 
monizes with  the  Gospel  itself.  For  it  demands  nothing 
less  than  the  dedication  of  life  to  God,  in  other  words  '  a 
life  unto  God  and  a  death  unto  self.'  ^  The  difficulty  has 
sometimes  been  raised  that  the  Decalogue  omits  any  men- 
tion of  the  duty  which  a  man  owes  to  himself.  There  is, 
of  course,  such  a  thing  as  virtuous  self-love,  and  there  are 
moral  duties  corresponding  to  it — duties  which  form  the 
measure  of  our  regard  for  others.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself.^  What  the  Christian  is  bound  to  reverence 
and  cherish  is  not  what  Scripture  calls  the  old  man — the 
unregenerate  self — but  the  new  man — the  nobler  or  coming 
self,  which  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  God  and  which  is 
destined  to  be  realized,  in  accordance  with  His  purpose, 
hereafter.  Aquinas,  however,  already  anticipates  the  an- 
swer to  this  difficulty.  '  The  love  of  self,'  he  says,  '  is 
included  in  the  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbour ;  for  a 
man  really  loves  himself  aright  in  so  far  as  he  directs  his 
life  Godward.'  ^  Duty  to  self  is  implied  in  the  great  com- 
mandment :  duty  in  its  two  aspects  of  self-denial  and  self- 
development  :  for  in  loving  God  aright  we  die  to  the  old 
self  in  order  that  we  may  put  on  the  new  man  which  after 
God  hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth.*" 

All  sin,  personal  or  social,  is  a  wrong  done  to  God,  and 

1  Robinson,  The  Church  Catechism  Explained,  p.  75. 

2  Lev.  xix.   18. 

3  Sunima  theologiae,  i.  ii".   100.  5.     Cp.  ii.  ii".    19.  b. 
*  Eph.  iv.  24.     See  Additional  Note. 


THE   RULE  OF  LI^i^E  AND  LOVE  23 

is  a  breach  of  His  commandments.  But  sin  in  its  essence 
means  self-love :  forgetful  of  God's  claim  and  making 
self  the  centre,  the  aim  and  the  law  of  life.  Conse- 
quently we  may  find  a  deep  significance  in  the  fact  that 
nothing  is  said  in  the  Decalogue  of  duty  to  self.  There  is 
no  such  duty  that  is  not  comprised  in  the  precept  Thou 
shall  have  none  other  gods  hul  me.  In  subjection  to  God  man 
realizes  himself,  and  attains  to  true  life.  In  the  service 
of  God  he  finds  glory,  freedom,  and  peace. ^ 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  '  SELF-LOVE ' 

In  the  Constitutions  of  the  synod  of  Lambeth  held  under  Arch- 
bishop Peckham,  1281,  occurs  the  following  passage,  of  which  a 
summary  is  given  below :  '  Proximum  debet  quilibet  diligere, 
sicut  seipsum.  Ubi  haec  conjunctio  siciit  non  dicit  aequalitatem, 
sed  conformitatem,  ut  videlicet  diligas  proximum  tuum  ad  quod 
teipsum,  hoc  est,  ad  bonum  non  ad  malum  ;  et  quomodo  teipsum, 
hoc  est  spiritualiter  non  carnaliter,  secundum  quod  carnalitas  dicit 
vitium.  Item  quantum  teipsum,  hoc  est,  in  prosperitate  et  adversi- 
tate,  sanitate  et  infirmitate.  Item  quantum  teipsum  respectu  tem- 
poralium,  pro  tanto  ;  ut  plus  diligas  omnem  hominem  et  singulum 
quam  omnem  affluentiam  temporalium.  Item  sicut  teipsum  pro 
tanto,  ut  plus  diligas  proximi  tui  animam,  seu  animae  salutem 
aeternam,  quam  tuam  vitam  propriam  temporalem  ;  sicut  animae 
tuae  vitam  debes  vitae  tuae  carnis  praeponere.  Item  qualiter 
teipsum,  ut  videlicet  omni  alii  in  necessitate  subvenias,  sicut  tibi 
velles  in  necessitate  consimili  subveniri  :  haec  omnia  intelliguntur, 
cum  dicitur,  diligas  proximum  tuum  sicut  teipsum.'' 

['  A  man  ought  to  love  his  neighbouras  himself.  The  qualification 
"  as  "  implies  not  equality,  but  likeness  :  you  should  love  your 
neighbour  with  a  view  not  to  his  hurt  but  to  his  good  :  you  should 
love  him  in  the  same  m,anner  as  you  love  yourself,  i.e.,  with  spiritual 
not  merely  carnal  affection  ;  and  to  the  same  extent — i.e.,  in  prosperity 
and  adversity,  health  and  sickness.     You  should  love  him  as  much 

*  Iran.  iv.  14.  i  :  '  Haec  enim  gloria  hominis,  perseverare  ac 
permanere  in  Dei  servitute.'  Ibid.  iv.  39.  4  :  '  Svibjectio  Dei  requietior 
est  aeterna.' 


24  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

as  you  love  yourself  in  regard  to  things  temporal — loving  each 
and  every  man  more  than  all  temporal  abundance  ;  and  "  as  " 
yourself  in  the  sense  that  you  pay  greater  heed  to  the  eternal  wel- 
fare of  his  soul  than  to  your  own  bodily  life.  Moreover,  you  should 
love  him  in  such  wise  as  you  love  yourself  by  giving  succour  to 
all  others  in  time  of  need,  just  as  you  would  wish  in  a  like  case  to 
be  succoured  yourself.  All  this  is  understood  when  it  is  said  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbouv  us  thyself.'  ] 


CHAPTER    II 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DECALOGUE 

THE  Decalogue  ^  is  familiar  to  us  in  two  versions :  one 
contained  in  the  Book  of  Exodus  (ch.  xx.),  the  other 
in  Deuteronomy  (ch.  v.).  As  we  now  read  the  command- 
ments, it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  they  have  received  some 
hortatory  expansion.  In  the  case  of  the  fourth  '  word,' 
this  expansion  differs  somewhat  widely  in  the  two  versions  ; 
and  in  certain  of  the  other  precepts  there  are  noticeable 
differences  of  detail.  Briefly  stated,  the  conclusion  which 
Old  Testament  scholars  have  reached  is  that  the  Decalogue 
was  originally  embodied  in  a  very  terse  and  simple  form, 
suitable  perhaps  for  inscription  upon  tablets  of  stone,  and 
easily  committed  to  memory.  It  assumed  its  present  form 
gradually,  by  incorporation,  as  it  seems,  of  elements  derived 
from  various  sources.  The  version  in  Exodus,  which  is 
possibly  the  latest  in  date,  appears  to  presuppose  the  teach- 
ing of  the  eighth  century  prophets,  Amos  and  Hosea ;    it 

^  The  name  '  Decalogue  '  is  derived  from  Deut.  x.  4,  LXX  ol 
SeKa  Xuyoi  (cp.  iv.  13,  to.  SeVa  prjfjiara),  '  the  ten  words  '  or  '  sayings.' 
The  Latin  decalogus  occurs  in  Tertullian  de  anima,  37,  and  in  the 
Latin  version  of  Irenaeus  adv.  haereses.  The  Greek  q  ScKaAoyos  is 
used  by  Clement  of  Alexandria.  Philo's  treatise  bears  the  title 
TTcpt  ru>v  SeKtt  Xoytwi/  ('oracles').  As  to  the  critical  analysis  of 
the  Decalogue,  see  Driver,  The  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament  ; 
and  the  same  writer's  Commentary  on  Exodus  (Camb.  Bible),  pp. 
191,  foil.  See  also  Dr.  Burn's  article,  'Ten  Commandments,'  in 
Murray's  Illustrated  Bible  Dictionary. 

26 


26  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

also  bears  clear  traces  of  the  work  of  the  so-called  '  Deiitero- 
nomic  '  school  and  also  of  the  priestly  writers  who,  during 
the  course  of  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  B.C.,  compiled 
an  account  of  Israel's  origins  and  early  history  to  serve  as  a 
kind  of  framework  for  the  legal  matter  in  which  they  were 
chiefly  interested.  What  stands  out,  however,  as  a  crucial 
and  impressive  fact  is  that  the  Decalogue  was  prefixed  to 
the  entire  body  of  legislation  as  constituting  in  its  earliest 
form  the  root,  and  in  its  latest  form  the  flower,  of  the  long 
spiritual  discipline  to  which  Israel  was  subjected  from  the 
period  of  the  Exodus  down  to  that  of  the  return  from  the 
captivity  in  Babylon. 

The  history,  then,  of  the  Decalogue  is  probably  somewhat 
as  follows.  There  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that,  in 
substance  at  least,  this  comprehensive  outline  of  moral  duty 
existed  in  Mosaic  times.  In  the  later  teachings  of  prophets 
and  priests  its  fundamental  principles  were  developed  and 
expanded  in  accordance  with  the  changing  circumstances  of 
Israel's  national  life.  Early  in  the  seventh  century  *  a 
version  of  the  Decalogue  was  incorporated  in  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy,  which  represents  an  attempt  to  revive  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  religion  of  Moses,  and  of  which 
the  most  characteristic  feature  is  the  predominance  of  moral 
over  ceremonial  elements.  Finally,  a  somewhat  different 
version  was  assigned  a  place  in  the  Book  of  Exodus.  The 
main  substance  of  this  version  is  usually  assigned  by  the 
critics  to  the  '  Elohistic  '  writer  [E]  of  the  eighth  century, 
whose  narrative  is  incorporated  with  that  of  the  '  Jehovist  ' 
in  the  Hexateuch.     But  it  shows  manifold  traces  in  its 

1  For  the  view  of  those  who  consider  that  the  Book  of  Deu- 
teronomy is  of  an  earher  date,  see  Griffiths'  Problem  of  Deuteronomy  ', 
Naville's  Discovery  of  the  Book  of  the  Law,  and  Wiener's  Pentatcuchal 
Studies,  1^ OS.  14-17,  c^  passim,  and  Origin  of  the  Pentateuch,  passim. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DECALOGUE         27 

existing  form  of  the  influence  of  other  compilers  ;  and  we 
are  justified  in  thinking  that  it  represents  the  traditional 
teaching  of  a  succession  of  religious  leaders,  who  were  agreed 
in  regarding  the  Decalogue  as  the  foundation-stone,  so  to 
speak,  of  Israel's  national  life. 

In  its  present  position  it  gives  a  keynote  to  the  entire 
legislation ;  it  indicates  the  result  divinely  aimed  at  from 
the  first ;  it  establishes  the  simple  yet  perfect  moral  standard 
which  was  the  ultimate  object  of  that  slow  and  progressive 
education  to  which  the  Hebrew  people  was  subjected. 
Hence  in  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  the  Decalogue  is  ex- 
pressly regarded  as  the  charter  of  the  covenant  made  at 
Horeb  between  Jehovah  and  His  ransomed  people. ^ 

I 

The  Mosaic  origin  of  the  Decalogue,  however,  is  questioned 
mainly  on  three  grounds. 

(i)  In  the  first  place  it  is  doubted  whether  such  purely 
ethical  precepts  are  consistent  with  the  usual  characteristics 
of  primitive  reUgion.  In  early  times  religion  was,  broadly 
speaking,  '  made  up  of  a  series  of  acts  and  observances,  the 
correct  performance  of  which  was  necessary  or  desirable  to 
secure  the  favour  of  the  gods  or  to  avert  their  anger  '  ^ ; 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
religious  ordinances  of  Israel  seem  to  belong  to  this  stage 
in  human  development. 

(2)  In  particular  it  is  urged  that  the  prohibition  of  images 
in  worship  (the  second  commandment)  was  practically  un- 
knowm,  or  at  least  remained  a  dead  letter,  till  the  age  of 

1  Deut.  iv.  13.  So  in  ix.  9,  11,  15  the  two  tables  are  called  '  the 
tables  of  the  covenant,'  just  as  the  ark  is  '  the  ark  of  the  covenant ' 
(x.  8,  etc.). 

8  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Religion  0/  the  Semites,  p.  29. 


28  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

Hosea  (c.  740).  Images  (pesUtui)  were  very  generally  em- 
ployed, especially  in  northern  and  central  Israel,  down  to 
the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  and  only  gave  way  gradu- 
ally and  partially  in  response  to  the  preaching  of  the  earlier 
prophets,  by  whom  they  were  denounced  as  characteristic 
of  a  formal  and  external  religion  which  utterly  failed  to  bear 
fruit  in  social  and  personal  righteousness.  1 

(3)  Once  more  it  is  contended  that  the  original  charter 
of  the  Mosaic  Covenant  may  probably  have  consisted  of  a 
group  of  ten  purely  rituaUstic  precepts,  namely,  those  con- 
tained in  Exodus  xxxiv.  14-26  :  a  passage  which  appears  to 
be  more  closely  connected  than  ch.  xx.  with  the  account  of 
the  delivery  of  the  Law  in  ch.  xix.  According  to  Wellhausen 
these  precepts  may  have  run  somewhat  as  follows  : — 

1.  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other  god. 

2.  Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

3.  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  shalt  thou  keep. 

4.  Every  firstling  is  mine, 

5.  Thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  weeks. 

6.  Thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  ingathering. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  of^er  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with 
leaven. 

8.  The  fat  of  my  feast  shall  not  be  left  over  until  the 
morning. 

Q.  Thou  shalt  bring  the  best  of  the  firstfruits  of  thy  land 
to  the  house  ol  Jehovah  thy  God. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother's  milk. 

The  foregoing  table,  and  indeed  the  actual  substance  of 
the  laws  comprised  in  it,  is  to  some  extent  conjectural,  and 
though  precepts  of  this  type  may  be  quite  consistent  with 
the  general  character  of  primitive  religion,  there  is  nothing 

'  See  the  author's  Rclis^ion  of  Israel,  p.  49. 


THE   HISTORY   OF  THE  DECALOGUE         29 

to  prove  that  this  particular  group  of  laws  was  ever  regarded 
as  the  charter  of  the  divine  covenant  with  Israel. ^ 

In  reply,  then,  to  the  arguments  alleged  it  may  be  pointed 
out  : — 

(i)  That  it  is  practically  impossible  to  account  for  the 
victory  won  by  Israel  over  the  heathenism  of  Canaan  unless 
its  national  rehgion  from  the  very  first  contained  a  strong 
ethical  element.  The  true  greatness  of  Moses — that  which 
constitutes  his  claim  to  be  honoured  as  one  of  the  supreme 
religious  leaders  of  mankind — lay  in  the  fact  that  he  indis- 
solubly  linked  the  idea  of  righteousness  to  the  idea  of  God. 
Only  a  people  trained  in  some  fundamental  habits  and  prin- 
ciples of  social  morality  could  have  overcome  the  Canaanites 
without  being  absorbed  by  them.  The  Book  of  Judges 
illustrates  the  inherent  power  of  resistance  to  the  corrupting 
influence  of  heathen  surroundings  which  repeatedly  saved 
Israel's  faith  in  Jehovah  and  its  customary  morality  from 
perversion  and  decay.  For  while  the  Decalogue  makes  a 
spiritual  faith  the  foundation  of  all  social  duty,  it  is  for  the 
most  part  concerned  with  the  protection  of  those  elementary 
social  rights  which  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  existence 
and  cohesion  of  primitive  communities.  From  this  point 
of  view  there  seems  to  be  nothing  in  the  Decalogue  that  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Mosaic  age.^  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
impossible  to  explain  the  exuberant  vigour  and  vitality  of 
the  Hebrew  race  apart  from  the  healthful  influence  of  a 

1  See  Diiver,  L.O.T.,  pp.  39,  40.  He  points[^out  that  the  author, 
or  redactor,  of  Exod.  xxxiv.  manifestly  identified  '  the  ten  com- 
mandments '   (verse  28)  with  the  Decalogue  of  Exod.  xx.  1-17. 

2  Even  the  tenth  commandment,  wb'ch  might  be  thought  to 
imply  ?n  advanced  standard  cf  moraliLy,  ^'s  piimarlly  no  more 
than  a  plain  warning  against  such  greedy  desire  for  another's  goods 
as  might,  and  often  did,  issue  in  violent  acts.  Cp.  Amos  iii.  10,  v. 
II  ;    Micah  ii.  8,  iii.  2-5  ;    Isa.  i.  23,  iii.  14,  15,  etc. 


30  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

simple  and  austere  moral  code,  calculated  to  train  a  rude 
and  undisciplined  race  in  traditions  of  faith,  purity  and 
valour.^ 

(2)  With  regard  to  the  second  commandment  in  particular 
it  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  prohibition  of  images  was 
not  improbably  suggested  by  the  urgent  necessity  of  separat- 
ing Israel  from  the  idols  of  Egypt,  with  which  it  had  been 
brought  into  such  close  contact.^  Moreover,  though  it  is 
evident  that  images  were  popularly  regarded  as  suitable 
adjuncts  of  worship,  at  least  until  the  eighth  century,  yet  it 
is  not  certain  that  they  were  universally  used,  nor  does  it 
appear  that  images  existed  in  connexion  either  with  the 
sacred  Ark  or  with  the  central  sanctuaries  at  any  period 
before  the  division  of  the  kingdom.  It  has  been  suggested 
also  that  certain  of  the  tribes  may  possibly  have  entered 
Canaan  earher  than  the  Exodus,  and  that  among  these 
tribes,  which  had  not  come  under  the  influence  of  Moses, 
the  use  of  images  was  traditional,  and  only  gradually  yielded 
to  more  spiritual  ideas  of  reUgion  inculcated  by  the  pro- 
phets. The  whole  subject  is  admittedly  obscure,  and  we 
seem  to  be  faced  by  two  alternatives  :  either  the  prohibition 
of  images  formed  an  original  part  of  the  Decalogue  which 
only  gradually  v/on  its  way  to  observance,  or  it  represents 
an  expansion  of  the  first  commandment,  suggested  by  the 
preaching  of  the  eighth  century  prophets,  who  denounced 
images,  as  we  have  seen,  mainly  because  the  use  of  them 
was  closely  connected  with  signal  breaches  of  social  right- 
eousness. 

(3)  The  contents  of  the  so-called  '  ritual  Decalogue  ' 
cannot  in  any  case  be  precisely  determined,  nor  is  it  clear 
that  it  is  referred  to  in  any  passage  of  the  Pentateuch  as 

1  Cp.  Driver,  Book  of  Exodxis  (Camb.  Bib.),  pp.  414-417. 

2  Cp.  Ezek.  XX.  7,  8. 


THE  HISTORY   OF   THE  DECALOGUE         31 

*  the  ten  words.'  Even,  however,  if  such  a  '  Decalogue  ' 
existed,  it  would  not  alter  the  significant  fact  that  the  moral 
Decalogue  came  to  overshadow  all  the  rest  of  the  Mosaic 
legislation,  and  was  always  recognized  by  Israel's  spiritual 
leaders  as  embodying  what  had  been  Jehovah's  essential 
requirement  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  nation's  exist- 
ence. When  we  consider  the  history  of  Hebrew  rehgion, 
we  cannot  doubt  that  this  simple  outline  of  moral  duty, 
defining  religion  in  terms  '  not  of  ritual,  but  of  love  and 
service,'  acted  continually  as  a  leavening  and  vitalizing 
germ  in  Israel's  religious  consciousness.  Its  national  life 
was  rooted  in  a  unique  religious  experience  ;  it  learned  in 
actual  fact  that  Jehovah  was  a  righteous  and  gracious  Being, 
willing  to  redeem  and  mighty  to  save  ;  and  this  idea  of  the 
Deity  was  reflected  and  embodied  in  the  entire  Mosaic 
legislation.  As  Prof.  Robertson  Smith  has  said  in  a  memor- 
able passage  : — 

'  The  Law  of  Israel  does  not  aim  at  singularity  ;  it  is 
enough  that  it  is  pervaded  by  a  constant  sense  that  the 
righteous  and  gracious  Jehovah  is  behind  the  Law  and 
wields  it  in  conformity  with  His  own  holy  nature.  The 
Law,  therefore,  makes  no  pretence  at  ideality.  It  contains 
precepts  adapted,  as  our  Lord  puts  it,  to  the  hardness  of 
the  people's  heart.  The  ordinances  are  not  abstractly  per- 
fect, and  fit  to  be  a  rule  of  life  in  every  state  of  society,  but 
they  are  fit  to  make  Israel  a  righteous,  humane  and  God- 
fearing people,  and  to  facilitate  a  healthy  growth  towards 
better  things.'  ^  As  its  spiritual  experience  grew  more 
mature,  Israel  learned  to  recognize  that  the  moral  require- 

^  W.  R.  Smith,  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  p.  343. 
He  adds:  '  The  important  point  that  reference  to  Jehovah  and  His 
character  determines  the  spirit  rather  than  the  details  of  the  legis- 
lation cannot  be  too  strongly  accentuated.' 

D 


32  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

ment  of  Jehovah  was  simple  and  all-embracing ;  that  it 
corresponded,  in  fact,  to  the  simplicity  of  the  relationship 
of  love  into  which  He  had  brought  the  chosen  people.  The 
elaborate  ordinance  of  sacrificial  worship  Vv^as  not  His  first 
word  to  Israel.  But  this  thing  commanded  He  them,  saying, 
Hearken  unto  My  voice  and  I  will  he  your  God  and  ye  shall 
he  My  people,  and  walk  ye  in  all  the  ways  that  I  command 
you,  that  it  may  he  well  with  yon.^  Israel  was  called  to  the 
life  of  righteousness,  which  is  the  life  of  love. 

II 

We  have  mentioned  some  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
entire  Decalogue  belongs  in  substance  to  the  age  of  Moses, 
but  that  it  has  been  expanded  partly  by  way  of  adapting 
it  to  the  circumstances  of  a  later  generation  than  that  of 
the  Exodus,^  partly  in  order  to  embody  certain  religious 
ideas  which  held  a  prominent  place  in  the  teaching  of  the 
prophets.  The  original  form  of  the  commandments  has 
been  conjecturally  restored  as  follows  : — 

1.  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  beside  Me. 

2.  Thou  shalt  not  make  for  thyself  any  graven  image. 

3.  Thou  shalt  not  take  up  the  name  of  Jehovah  for  a  vain 
end  (or  falsehood). 

4.  Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  sanctify  it. 

5.  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

6.  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

8.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

9.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house. 

1  Jer.  vii.  23. 

2  e.g.,  the  fourth  commandment  imphes  the  settlement  of  Israel 
in  Canann  (Exod.  xx.  6), 


THE  HISTORY   OF  THE   DECALOGUE         33 

In  a  general  and  comprehensive  form  these  precepts  laid 
down  principles  which  arc  applied  to  particular  instances 
elsewhere  in  the  Pentateuch,  especially  in  certain  passages 
of  the  so-called  '  Book  of  the  Covenant '  (Exod.  xx.  20- 
xxiii,  33).^  Here  it  maybe  pointed  out  that  in  the  Book 
of  Deuteronomy  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  with  Israel  is 
unquestionably  based  upon  the  Decalogue,^  whereas  in 
Exodus  it  seems  to  be  connected  either  with  the  group  of 
laws  contained  in  xxxiv.  14-26  (J)  or  with  those  included 
in  the  '  Book  of  the  Covenant '  (E).  This  divergence  con- 
stitutes a  critical  difficulty  which  it  is  needless  for  our  present 
purpose  to  discuss.  It  may,  however,  be  maintained  with 
some  confidence  that  the  general  tenor  of  the  Old  Testament 
favours  the  view  which  is  characteristic  of  Deuteronomy. 
The  idea  of  an  original  covenant  '  between  '  Jehovah  and 
Israel  is  very  deeply  rooted  in  the  Old  Testament.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  word  '  covenant '  implies  a  bond  of  mutual 
obligation  between  two  parties  ^ :  Jehovah,  on  the  one 
hand,  pledging  Himself  by  gracious  promises  of  help  and 
salvation,  the  Hebrew  people  on  its  side  binding  itself  to 
obey  certain  divinely-imposed  commands.  According  to 
tradition,  such  a  '  covenant '  was  actually  concluded  at 
Sinai  between  the  God  of  Israel  and  His  redeemed  people 
(Exod.  xxiv.),  nor  is  there  any  convincing  reason  to  suppose 
that  this  mode  of  conceiving  the  relationship  first  originated 
at  a  later  stage  in  Israel's  history.  It  seems  practically 
certain  that  the  idea  of  a  covenant  relationship  between 
Jehovah  and  the  nation  was  familiar  to  Israel  from  the  very 
dawn  of  its  history,  whatever  may  have  been  the  precise 

1  Exod.  xxiv.  7  (E).  See  Driver,  Exodits,  pp.  202,  foil. ;  McNeile, 
Exodus,  pp.  Ixi.,  Ixii. 

2  See  Deut.  iv.  13,  23  ;  v.  2,  3  ;  xxix.  i,  etc. 

3  See  McNeile  on  the  history  of  the  word.  Exodus,  pp.  150,  foil. 


34  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

form  in  which  it  was  represented.  Moreover,  the  relation- 
ship was  ahvays  regarded  as  involving  a  moral  requirement, 
Israel  being  bound  not  to  render  a  merely  formal  and  out- 
ward obedience  to  certain  ceremonial  precepts,  but  to  requite 
its  divine  Redeemer  with  devout  affections — reverence  and 
fear,  gratitude  and  devotion.  Jehovah  required  of  His 
people  a  life  conformed  to  His  own  character ;  a  nobler 
and  higher  morality  than  that  of  other  nations — a  morality 
of  which  justice,  humanity,  mercy  and  good  faith  were 
characteristic  elements.  This  was  the  distinctive  feature  of 
the  Sinaitic  '  covenant '  :  this  it  was  that  became  the  stan- 
dard by  which  the  prophets  judged  the  social  and  personal 
life  of  their  contemporaries.  The  knowledge  of  God  men- 
tioned by  Hosea*  may  have  embraced  certain  legal,  civil 
and  ceremonial  usages,  but  it  unquestionably  included  social 
righteousness  and  humanity.  Thus,  at  the  very  outset  of 
its  career  as  a  nation,  Israel  was  subjected  to  the  discipline 
of  a  moral  code,  and  was  never  allowed  to  forget  that  a  special 
type  of  character  is  the  essential  condition  of  covenantal 
union  with  the  holy  God.  Indeed,  the  true  nature  of  Israel's 
relationship  to  Jehovah  is  only  to  be  understood  aright  by 
due  consideration  of  the  result  towards  which  it  tended  ; 
and  there  is  no  question  that  the  inspired  thought  of  later 
generations  regarded  the  distinctive  vocation  of  Israel  as  a 
call  to  holiness.  It  was  to  be  a  holy  nation  :  holy  as  Jehovah 
is  holy.-  The  cjjithet  '  holy  '  doubtless  was  applicable  to 
the  nation  from  the  lirst,  but  its  full  significance  could  only 
be  perceived  as  the  result  of  a  prolonged  and  varied  discip- 
line. Jewish  faith  at  length  recognized  that  the  nation 
was  '  holy,'  not  only  as  being  '  separated  '  from  the  pollu- 
tions of  heathendom,  but  as  being  called  to  exhibit  in  life 

1  Hosea  vi.  6.  ^  Exod.  xix.  0  ;    Lev.  xi.  45. 


THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  DECALOGUE         35 

and  character  the  spiritual  perfections  of  its  divine  Re- 
deemer.^ 

It  will  have  appeared  that  the  real  significance  of  the 
prominence  assigned  to  the  Decalogue  in  the  Mosaic  legis- 
lation can  only  be  estimated  aright  when  we  take  into  ac- 
count the  whole  tendency  of  Israel's  history.  The  course 
of  events  made  it  manifest  that  Israel  was  called  to  be  the 
people  of  revelation — the  people  whose  thirst  for  the  living 
God,  whose  passion  for  a  righteousness  which  He  could 
accept  and  crown,  qualified  it  to  become  a  light  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, a  prophet  and  missionary  to  mankind  at  large. 

Ill 

The  inward  and  spiritual  significance  of  the  Decalogue 
was  finally  made  manifest  in  the  life  and  in  the  teaching  of 
Christ.  But  it  may  be  well  to  briefly  describe  its  purport 
as  first  delivered  to  the  Israelites.  This  is  very  briefly  done 
by  Josephus,^  but  perhaps  without  sufficient  regard  to  the 
historical  circumstances  under  which  the  covenant  between 
God  and  Israel  was  originally  estabUshed.  The  first  four 
'  words '  seem  to  regulate  those  duties  which  resulted  from 
Israel's  new  relationship  to  its  Deliverer.  The  first  word 
is  a  warning  against  polytheism.  Israel  is  to  be  faithful 
and  loyal  to  Jehovah,  and  to  regard  Him  for  all  purposes 
of  worship  as  the  one  and  only  God.  This  was  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  Hebrew  religion,  marking  its  separation 
both  from  the  fantastic  idolatry  of  Egypt  and  from  the 
varied  forms  of  nature-worship  with  which  it  was  destined 
to  be  confronted  in  Canaan.  The  second  word  directs  that 
the  worship  paid  to  God  shall  be  in  accordance  with  His 
revealed  nature  :  images  of  Jehovah  were  forbidden  because 

^  Cp.  I  Pet.  ii.  9.  2  Aniiq.  iii.  5.  5. 


36  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

the  primary  lesson  that  Israel  needed  was  that  no  material 
symbol  could  adequately  represent  a  spiritual  Being.  The 
third  word  teaches  the  holiness  of  God  as  manifested  in  the 
events  of  the  Exodus.  His  Name,  that  is,  the  expression 
of  His  character,  is  to  be  held  in  honour  and  not  to  be  em- 
ployed lightly,  falsely,  or  without  just  occasion.  The  fourth 
word,  by  its  injunction  to  '  remember,'  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  observance  of  the  seventh  day  was  already  tradi- 
tional among  the  Semitic  peoples.  The  command  to  '  sanc- 
tify '  the  day  consecrates  an  ancient  tribal  custom  as  a  sym- 
bol of  Jehovah's  covenant-union  with  Israel ;  at  the  same 
time  the  fourth  word  lays  the  foundation  of  all  the  Mosaic 
ordinances  of  sacred  worship.  The  fifth  word  may  be  re- 
garded as  closing  the  first  table  by  enjoining  proper  deference 
to  parents.  Its  position  implies  that  parental  authority  is 
a  counterpart  of  divine.^  In  later  legislation  we  find  an 
extension  of  the  commandment  to  what  may  be  called 
spiritual  parentage.  ^  The  whole  social  order,  in  fact,  is 
based  on  the  regulation  of  family  life,  and  even  the  institu- 
tions of  government  are  thus  invested  with  a  sacrosanct 
character. 

The  second  table  deals  with  social  duties,  and  gives  them 
a  religious  sanction.  The  sixth  word  enjoins  respect  for 
Hfe,  the  seventh  for  the  marriage  bond,  the  eighth  for  the 
property  of  others.  The  ninth  word  inculcates  not  so  much 
the  duty  of  truthfulness  in  general  as  that  of  abstinence 
from  any  false  oath  in  a  court  of  law  or  elsewhere  which 
might  involve  detriment  to  another's  character,  property 
or  Hfe.    The  concluding  word  embodies  a  principle  which 

1  Cp.  Aristotle.  Eth.  Nic.  ix.  2.  8  :  '  One  ought  also  to  render 
honour  to  one's  parents,  exactly  as  one  renders  honour  to  the  Gods,' 
etc. 

2  Cp.  Lev.  xix.  32  ;    Exod.  xxii.  28. 


THE   HISTORY   OF  THE   DECALOGUE         zl 

was  to  be  more  clearly  enunciated  in  the  New  Testament. 
Apparently  the  original  precept  ended  at '  house  ' — the  rest 
being  a  later  expansion.  It  has  been  already  noticed  that 
'  desire '  is  here  restrained  in  view  of  the  close  connexion 
between  lawless  impulse  and  violent  or  oppressive  deeds. 
The  commandment  is  thus  not  inconsistent  with  a  very 
primitive  stage  of  moral  and  social  development. 

Such  was  the  simple  code  of  morality  which  was  destined 
to  be  such  a  potent  factor  in  the  future  development  of  the 
Hebrew  people,  training  it  gradually  to  recognize  the  unique 
greatness  of  its  special  calling,  and  the  nature  and  character 
of  its  divine  Deliverer.  The  legislation  looked  to  the  future  ; 
it  was  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  a  rude  and  untutored 
race  of  men ;  it  accommodated  itself  to  the  hardness  of 
their  hearts  ;  it  was  designed  to  fit  them  by  slow  degrees 
for  a  religion  of  the  spirit,  leading  them  onward,  as  Irenaeus 
says,  '  through  things  secondary  to  things  primary,  through 
things  typical  to  things  real,  through  things  temporal,  carnal 
and  earthly  to  things  eternal,  spiritual  and  heavenly.'  ^ 

There  are  three  features  in  the  Decalogue  which  rendered 
it  the  suitable  foundation  of  this  progressive  education. 
In  the  first  place  it  connects  all  personal  morality  and  social 
duty  or  right  with  religion.  As  we  have  seen,  the  appeal  of 
love  lies  behind  the  command  to  obey.  He  Who  demands 
the  exclusive  homage  of  Israel  is  the  holy  Being  Who  has 
already  manifested  His  compassion  for  the  oppressed,  and 
His  power  to  redeem.  Next,  the  prohibitory  form  of  the 
Decalogue  harmonizes  with  its  pedagogic  function  as  part 
of  a  primary  course  of  ethical  instruction.  The  will  of 
God,  in  the  very  process  of  educating  that  of  man,  neces- 
sarily comes  into  coUision  with  his  natural  propensity  to  evil. 

1  Adv.  haer.  iv.   14.  3. 


38  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Moral  education  must  begin  with  the  restriction  of  undis- 
cipHned  desire.  Thus  the  negative  form  of  the  command- 
ments seems  to  presuppose  the  Fall  cf  Man,  the  fact  of  uni- 
versal sinfulness.  There  is  obvious  truth  in  Augustine's 
contention  that  the  Old  Testament  differs  from  the  New 
in  that  the  one  inculcates  fear,  the  other  love.^  At  the 
same  time  we  must  not  forget  that  even  within  the  limits 
of  the  Old  Testament  it  is  plainly  taught  that  the  essential 
spirit  of  religion  is  love.  In  such  books  as  Deuteronomy 
we  are  brought  to  the  very  threshold  of  the  Gospel. ^  The 
whole  requirement  of  Jehovah  is  summed  up  in  the  simple 
and  positive  precept.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might. 
Another  striking  feature  of  the  Decalogue  is  the  absence 
of  any  directions  bearing  on  worship.  The  only  ceremonial 
requirement  is  the  due  recognition  of  the  holiness  of  the 
seventh  day.  The  prophets  seem  to  corroborate  this  essen- 
tial characteristic  of  the  Mosaic  teaching  :  first,  in  their 
silence  as  to  matters  of  ritual  observance  ;  secondly,  in 
their  insistence  on  social  righteousness  as  the  essential  ele- 
ment in  Jehovah's  religion.  It  is  manifest — even  apart 
from  explicit  statements  like  that  of  Jeremiah  vii.  22 — 
that  the  Mosaic  Tor  ah  ('  direction  '  or  '  instruction  ')  was 
not  concerned  primarily  with  matters  of  worship,  but  with 
points  of  moral  and  social  duty.  The  ethical  teaching  of 
the  Decalogue  lay  behind  the  elaborate  development  and 
codification  of  the  ceremonial  law,  which  in  the  main  un- 
doubtedly belonged  to  a  period  subsequent  to  the  age  of 
prophets.     To  the  priority  and  supremacy  of  the  moral  as 

^  Aug.  c.  Adimant.  Manich.  discip.,  i.  17. 

2  Hence  Jerome  speaks  of  tliis  book  as  '  evangelicae  legis  prae- 
figriiatio  '  {ep.  ad  Pdidimim,  9).     See  Deut.  vi.  5,  etc. 


THE   HISTORY   OF  THE  DECALOGUE         39 

compared  with  the  ceremonial  law  we  may  also  attribute 
the  fact  that  the  positive  ordinances  of  Hebrew  religion 
gradually  came  to  be  regarded  as  moral  symbols,  expressive 
of  Israel's  spiritual  status  and  vocation  ;  as  emblems  of  the 
hoUness  that  became  a  kingdom  of  priests.  To  the  rite  of 
circumcision,  for  instance,  a  spiritual  significance  came  to  be 
attached ;  it  is  regarded  (in  Deuteronomy  and  elsewhere) 
as  the  outward  token  of  a  heart  converted  and  purified  by 
divine  grace.  ^  So  again,  the  ordinance  of  the  Passover 
symbolized  the  sacerdotal  status  of  the  nation,  while  the 
sanctification  of  the  firstborn  represented  the  vocation  of 
the  entire  people  to  Jehovah's  special  service.  In  these 
and  in  other  instances  we  see  the  effect  of  the  fundamental 
moral  ideas  involved  in  Israel's  covenant  relationship  to 
God.  Even  the  outward  observances  of  religion  were  visible 
tokens  and  effectual  signs  of  the  spiritual  privileges  and 
responsibilities  of  those  whom  Jehovah  deigned  to  call  into 
fellowship  with  Himself. 

IV 

The  Decalogue  was  originally  delivered  to  a  rude  horde 
of  escaped  slaves  as  a  sequel  to  their  deliverance  from  Egypt 
and  as  a  token  of  their  separation  from  all  false  notions  of 
deity,  and  from  all  the  moral  pollution  which  their  long  sojourn 
in  a  heathen  land  had  made  familiar  to  them.  But  the 
very  fact  that  it  so  closely  connected  moral  duty  with  vital 
truths  of  religion,  and  that  its  various  precepts  were  so  free 
from  local  or  tribal  peculiarities,  imparted  to  the  Decalogue 
the  character  and  force  of  an  everlasting  and  universal 
covenant. 

*  See  Deut.  x.  16  ;  xxx.  6.  Cp.  Jer.  iv.  4  ;  ix.  26  ;  and  Rom. 
ii.  28,  29. 


40  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Hence  the  ten  commandments  retain  their  unique  author- 
ity for  the  human  conscience  even  in  the  most  enHghtened 
peoples  and  in  periods  far  removed  in  time  and  in  circum- 
stances from  that  of  the  Exodus.  '  The  voice  that  spoke 
from  Sinai  reverberates  in  all  lands  '  ^ ;  f or  it  finds  an  echo 
in  the  '  general  heart  of  men  ' ;  its  utterance  is  that  of  the 
Law  of  Nature  and  Reason  itself.^ 

This  was  early  recognized  by  Christian  writers.  Both 
Justin  and  Irenaeus  emphatically  assert  the  permanent 
obligation  of  the  moral  precepts  contained  in  the  Decalogue  ; 
Tertullian  and  Augustine  regard  it  as  embodying  the  Law 
of  Nature  ;  and  this  view  becomes  a  commonplace  with  the 
great  scholastic  teachers,  e.g.,  Thomas  Aquinas  and  Duns 
Scotus,  and  with  theologians  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  The  question  of 
the  eternal  obligation  of  the  Decalogue  became  a  matter  of 
dispute  between  the  adherents  of  Luther  and  Calvin ;  the 
Socinians  maintained  that  even  the  Decalogue  was  abro- 
gated by  the  Law  of  Christ,  and  this  was  also  the  opinion 
of  the  eighteenth  century  rationalists.^  But  speaking 
generally.  Christian  teachers  and  commentators  have  de- 
voted themselves  to  interpreting  the  immutable  principles 
of  the  Decalogue  in  the  light  of  Christ's  own  teaching.  As 
regards  the  usage  of  the  English  Church,  it  seems  to  be  true 
that  from  the  earliest  times  care  was  taken  to  enforce  upon 
the  clergy  the  duty  of  teaching  the  rudiments  of  the  faith, 
and  expounding  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Ten 
Commandments  in  the  vulgar  tongue.     *  Hence  is  it,'  writes 

1  Maclaren,  Exposition  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  p.  98. 

2  See  above,  p.  6. 

3  Special  mention  may  be  made  of  the  work  of  J.  D.  Michaelis 
(1717-1791),  who  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Laivs  of  Moses  deals 
with  the  entire  Mosaic  Law  as  a  civil  rather  than  a  moral  code. 


THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  DECALOGUE         41 

Mr.  Maskell,  '  that  we  have  still  remaining  in  manuscript 
so  many  short  expositions  in  English  of  the  Creed  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Commandments.'  ^  These  ele- 
ments of  instruction  were  gradually  incorporated  in  the 
Prymer,^  which  at  an  earlier  period  included  only  prayers 
and  devotions,  but  which  in  the  fifteenth  century  contained 
the  Decalogue  and  the  Creed  in  English.  That  these  were 
already  in  some  measure  familiar  to  the  common  people  was 
mainly  attributable  to  the  pastoral  zeal  of  prelates  like 
Peckham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  in  his  Constitu- 
tions of  Lambeth,  1281,  enjoins  *  that  every  priest  who 
presides  over  a  people  do  four  times  in  the  year,  that  is  once 
a  quarter,  on  some  one  or  more  solemn  days,  by  himself  or 
by  some  other,  expound  to  the  people  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
without  any  fantastical  affectation  of  subtilty  {sme  cxquisita 
vcrborum  suhtilitate) ,  the  fourteen  articles  of  faith,  the  ten 
commandments  of  the  Decalogue,  the  two  precepts  of  the 
Gospel  or  of  love  to  God  and  man,  the  seven  works  of  mercy, 
the  seven  capital  sins  with  their  progeny,  the  seven  principal 
virtues,  and  the  seven  sacraments  of  grace.'  ^  This  injunc- 
tion is  followed  by  a  very  brief  summary  of  the  teaching 
contained  in  these  different  formularies.  As  to  the  Deca- 
logue, Peckham  follows  the  current  (Augustinian)  method 
of  division,  and  states  that  three  of  the  precepts  '  respect 
God  and  are  called  Commandments  of  the  first  table,  seven 
respect  man,  and  are  called  those  of  the  second  table.'  A 
similar  constitution  of  the  Archbishop  (Thoresby)  of  York 

1  Monumenta  Ritualia  Ecclesiae  Anglicanae,  vol.  2,  p.  xlvi. 

2  On  the  history  of  the  Pr5mier  see  Maskell,  vol.  2  ;  Procter  and 
Frere,  A  New  History  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  pp.  19,  20,  etc. ; 
C.  Wordsworth,  The  Old  Service  Books  of  the  English  Church,  ch.  ix. 

3  In  J.  Johnson,  A  Collection  of  all  the  Ecclesiastical  Laws,  etc., 
vol.  ii. ;    '  Const,  of  Lambeth,'  can.  ix. 


42  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

(d.  1373)  exhorts  the  laity  '  to  hear  God's  service  every 
Sunday  and  to  hear  God's  law  taught  in  the  mother  tongue.' 
In  his  anxiety  to  raise  the  general  level  of  Zealand  know- 
ledge, both  among  clergy  and  laity,  the  same  great  prelate 
wrote  an  '  Instruction  '  or  Catechism  for  the  people,  which 
was  published  in  English  and  Latin  versions,  and  was  after- 
wards issued  in  an  adapted  form,  apparently  by  Wycliffe 
himself.  Thoresby's  Lay  Folk's  Catechism,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  includes  expositions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Creed  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  The  English  version 
was  in  rude  and  simple  verse,  so  as  to  be  easily  understood 
even  by  the  most  uncultured  folk.  It  seems  that  Thoresby's 
action  was  dictated,  partly  by  his  own  pastoral  zeal,  partly 
by  the  example  of  Peckham  in  the  southern  province  some 
seventy-six  years  before.  He  secured  for  his  catechism  the 
approval  of  the  Convocation  of  York  ;  and  he  demanded  of 
the  clergy  a  higher  standard  of  activity  than  Peckham  had 
required,  enjoining  them  to  instruct  the  people  not  only 
'  four  times  a  year  on  one  or  more  holy  days,'  but '  at  least 
on  the  Lord's  Day.'  ^ 

Nearly  two  centuries  later  we  find  an  injunction  of  Arch- 
bishop Lee  requiring  parish  priests  to  teach  their  parish- 
ioners the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ave  in  English  '  at  Mattens 
time,  and  betwene  Mattens  and  Laudes  ' ;  the  Creed  after 
the  recital  of  the  Creed  at  Mass,  and  the  Ten  Commandments 
between  Evensong  and  Compline  on  holy  days.-  But  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  such  teaching  had  been  cus- 
tomary, though  it  occasionally  fell  into  disuse,  from  the 

'  The  Lay  Folks'  Catechism  (Latin  and  English  Versions  of  Abp. 
Thoresby's  instruction)  is  published  in  the  '  Early  Enghsh  Text 
Society's'  series.  No.  118,  with  introduction,  glossary,  etc.,  by  the 
late  Canon  Simmons  and  Canon  Nolloth  (London,  1901), 

-  C.  Wordsworth,  op.  cit.,  285,  286. 


THE   HISTORY   OF  THE   DECALOGUE         43 

seventh  century  onwards  ^  ;  and  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries  children  were  commonly  instructed  in 
these  rudiments  of  faith  and  morals. 

V 

According  to  the  ancient  Hebrew  tradition  the  two  tables 
of  the  '  testimony  ' — that  is  the  declaration  of  God's  will 
contained  in  the  ten  words — were  deposited  and  preserved 
in  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  ^  This  implies  that  the  most 
sacred  of  Israel's  possessions,  enshrined  in  the  most  vene- 
rated of  rehgious  objects,  and  withdrawn  from  view  in  the 
holiest  part  of  the  tabernacle,  was  the  Decalogue.  This 
circumstance  may  be  regarded  as  an  ample  justification  of 
the  position  assigned  to  it  in  the  English  Liturgy.  Its  intro- 
duction into  the  service  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  1552  was  a 
novelty,  but  it  was  a  step  which  may  be  defended  on  several 
grounds.  In  the  first  place,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Decalogue 
must  have  been  tolerably  familiar  to  ordinary  worshippers.^ 
It  had  been  customary  to  recite  and  to  expound  it  in  the 
hearing  of  the  people  at  least  once  every  quarter  since  the 
thirteenth  century  ;  and  the  second  table  was  read  in  the 
Mass  as  the  Epistle  for  the  Wednesday  before  Mid-Lent 
Sunday.  Further,  a  precedent  was  furnished  by  the 
'  Liturgy  of  Strasburg,'  a  Latin  version  of  which  was  pub- 
lished in  London  by  Valerand  Pullain  (1551)  with  a  dedica- 
tion to  Edward  VI.*     In  this  liturgy  the  Sunday  service 

1  C.  Wordsworth,  op.  cit.,  2S5,  286, 

2  Exod.  XXV.   16,  21  ;    xl.  20.     Cp.  Deut.  x.  2. 

3  Freeman,  Principles  of  Divine  Service,  vol.  2,  ch.  iv.,  p.  440, 
observes  that  '  an  appeal  to  the  Decalogue  was  a  customary  form 
of  oath  in  the  ancient  British  Church  :  which  indicates  perhaps 
a  eucharistic  use  of  it.' 

*  Procter  and  Frere,  New  History,  etc.,  additional  note,  pp.  86 
foil. 


44  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

began  with  the  recitation  of  the  Decalogue,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  ensuing  collect :  *  Lord  God,  merciful  Father, 
Who  in  this  Decalogue  hast  taught  us  by  Thy  servant  Moses 
the  righteousness  of  Thy  Law  ;  deign  so  to  write  it  by  Thy 
Spirit  in  our  hearts  that  henceforth  we  may  will  and  desire 
nothing  more  than  to  please  Thee  in  all  things  by  a  most 
perfect  obedience,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'  It  would 
seem,  moreover,  that  since  1547,  in  pursuance  of  one  of  the 
Edwardine  Injunctions,  the  Decalogue  together  with  the 
Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  had  occasionally  been  recited 
in  English  immediately  after  the  Gospel.^  It  was  only  a 
comparatively  slight  change,  therefore,  that  was  made  in 
the  Book  of  1552.  At  the  same  time  the  ninefold  Kyric 
EUison,  which  as  a  very  ancient  feature  of  the  service  had  been 
retained  in  the  Book  of  1549  by  way  of  an  introduction  to  the 
Mass,  was  adapted  in  such  a  way  as  to  provide  a  penitential 
response  to  the  several  commandments,  the  tenth  being 
partly  based  upon  the  collect  in  the  Strasburg  Liturgy.- 

The  introduction  of  the  Decalogue  was  probably  intended 
by  the  revisers  of  1552  to  be  a  rule  or  standard  of  self- 
examination  before  communion.  The  first  act  of  Edward 
VI's  first  parliament  was  directed  against  '  revilers  '  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament — persons  who  '  contemptuously  de- 
praved, despised  or  reviled  the  same,' '  disputed  and  reasoned 
unreverently  and  ungodly  of  that  most  holy  mystery  '  ^  ; 

1  The  Injunction  recurs  in  the  Injunctions  of  EUzabeth,  No  v.  : 
'  Item,  that  every  holy  day  through  the  year,  when  they  lK^^•e  no 
sermon,  they  [the  clergy  specified]  shall  immediately  after  the 
(jospel  o})enly  and  plainly  recite  to  their  parishioners  in  the  pulpit 
the  Paternoster,  the  Creed  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  in  English, 
to  the  intent  that  the  people  may  learn  the  same  by  heart,'  etc. 
See  Gee  and  Hardy,  Documents  Illustrative  of  the  History  of  the 
English  Church,  p.  420. 

2  See  Luckock,  The  Divine  Liturgy,  p.  79. 

3  Gee  and  Hardy,  pp.  322  foil. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  DECALOGUE         45 

and  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  attempt  to  guard  the  Sacra- 
ment from  profane  or  careless  participation  was  timely 
and  necessary.  In  the  Scottish  Liturgy  of  1637  the  people 
were  directed  to  ask  God's  mercy  after  the  reading  of  each 
commandment '  for  their  transgression  of  every  duty  therein, 
either  according  to  the  letter,  or  to  the  mj/stical  import- 
ance of  the  said  commandments.'  The  expansion,  then, 
of  th3  penitential  preparation  for  devout  reception  of  the 
Eucharist  was  suggested  by  a  good  motive,  and  was  in 
itself  desirable.  Incidentally,  however,  the  insertion  of 
the  Decalogue  was  liturgically  valuable  as  reviving  the 
ancient  lection  from  the  Law  which  had  been  customary 
in  the  early  church,  and  which  was  retained  in  various 
Eastern  liturgies.  1  A  lection  from  other  portions  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  also  an  original  feature  of  the  Galilean 
and  Roman  liturgies,  and  is  still  retained  on  certain  days 
in  the  Roman  Church.  ^  The  Decalogue  may  thus  be 
regarded  as  an  invariable  lection  from  the  Old  Testament, 
and  forms  a  very  interesting  and  distinctive  feature  of  our 
service,  which  could  not  be  discarded  without  a  real  loss.^ 
The  Nonjurors,  in  compiling  their  liturgy,  adopted  in  its 

1  Apostolic  Constitutions,  viii.  5  :  ^era  r-qv  avdyvoicnv  tov  vofxov. 
For  an  example  of  later  use  see  the  Liturgy  of  the  Syrian  Jacobites 
(in  Brightman,  Liturgies  East  and  West,  pp.  77  foil.).  The  Armenian 
and  Nestorian  Liturgies  retain  lections  from  the  Old  Testament. 
That  the  reading  of  the  Decalogue  was  intended  to  rank  with  the 
Epistle  and  Gospel  may  be  gathered  from  the  direction :  '  Then 
shall  the  priest,  turning  to  the  people,  rehearse  distinctly  all  the 
ten  commandments  '    (added  in   1661   at  Bp.   Wren's  suggestion). 

2  PuUan,  Hist,  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  notes  that  '  the 
so-called  Ambrosian  service  of  Milan  also  retains  this  [Old  Testa- 
ment] lection  '   (p.  23). 

3  Other  instances  of  such  invariable  lections  are  given  by  Luck- 
ock,  Div.  Liturgy,  p.  78.  The  use  of  the  Kyric  as  a  '  respond  '  is 
also  liturgically  not  without  precedent. 


46  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

place  the  Gospel  summary  of  the  commandments  (St. 
Matt,  xxii.  37-40),  and  the  use  of  this  as  an  alternative  is 
permitted  in  the  present  Scottish  office  ;  as  an  addition, 
in  the  American  office.  It  has  been  recently  suggested 
that  the  Ten  commandments  should  be  omitted,  provided 
they  be  said  once  on  each  Sunday  and  Holy  Day  ;  the  Gospel 
summary  being  rehearsed  in  case  of  such  omission. 

We  may  close  this  brief  survey  of  the  place  assigned 
to  the  Decalogue  in  Christian  thought  and  worship  by 
pointing  out  the  value  of  this  fundamental  moral  code  as 
an  enduring  link  between  Jew  and  Christian.  The  central 
truth  of  Judaism  is  the  intimate  connexion  of  morality 
with  religion.  '  In  every  stage  of  its  development,'  writes 
a  Jewish  teacher,  '  Judaism  has  taught  that  faith  and 
ritual  are  but  the  paths  to  righteousness,  and  that  far 
higher  than  obedience  to  the  ceremonial  law,  higher  even 
than  the  possession  of  theological  truth,  is  purity  of  heart 
and  holiness  of  life '  ^ ;  and,  as  Israel  has  never,  in  spite  of 
the  many  vicissitudes  of  its  history,  altogether  forgotten 
its  original  vocation  to  be  a  holy  nation,  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find  that  its  representative  thinkers  and  teachers 
have  continually  insisted  on  the  fundamental  nature  and 
authority  of  the  Decalogue.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that 
the  ethics  of  Judaism,  at  their  highest  and  purest,  are 
closely  akin  to  those  of  Christianity.  There  is  something 
of  the  same  zeal  for  active  lovingkindness,  and  inward 
purity  of  thought  and  motive  ;  the  same  spirit  of  devotion, 
joy  in  God,  and  delight  in  His  will.  This  high  standard 
of  goodness  is  welcome  for  its  own  sake,  though  as  yet  the 
Jew  is  in  a  real  sense  self-estranged  from  Christ  and  bhnd 
to  the  meaning  of  His  mission  and  to  the  power  of  His 

^  The  Rev.  M.  Joseph,  '  Jewish  Ethics  '  in  Religious  Systems  of 
the  World  (Sonnenschein). 


THE   HISTORY   OF  THE   DECALOGUE         47 

Spirit.  The  following  sentence  will  fittingly  close  the 
present  section,  and  will  perhaps  recall  its  opening  sentences  : 
'  The  root  of  knowledge  was  placed  in  the  Ark,  which  is 
like  the  innermost  chamber  of  the  heart ;  and  this  [root] 
was  the  Ten  Words  and  their  derivatives  ;  that  is  the 
Tor  ah.'  ^ 

VI 

One  more  point  in  connexion  with  the  history  of  the 
Decalogue  may  be  considered  here,  namely,  the  question 
as  to  the  most  suitable  arrangement  of  the  ten  command- 
ments. 

Speaking  broadly,  three  different  schemes  of  division 
have  been  adopted. 

I.  Among  the  Jews  it  has  been  the  traditional  view 
that  the  preface  to  the  Decalogue  (Exod.  xx.  2)  constitutes 
the  first  commandment,  which  is  in  effect  an  injunction  to 
believe  in  the  personality  and  moral  perfection  of  God. 
/  am  Jehovah  thy  God  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  The  second  word  (Exod, 
XX.  3-6)  is  a  command  to  believe  in  the  unity  and  spirituality 
of  the  Deity.  Apparently  this  tradition  is  not  very  ancient, 
as  it  seems  to  be  unknown  to  Philo  or  Josephus.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  it  was  probably  dictated  by  a  spirit 
of  antagonism  to  Christianity.^  The  most  weighty  objec- 
tion to  it  is  that  it  treats  what  is  properly  a  doctrine  of 
faith  as  if  it  were  a  moral  precept.' 

1  Judah  ha-Levi,  the  Spanish  philosopher  and  Hebrew  poet  (c. 
1085-1 140).  See  The  Jewish  Encyclopcedia,  vol.  4,  s.v.  '  Decalogue, 
the,  in  Jewish  theology.'     See  Additional  Note. 

2  Oehler,  Old  Testament  Theology,  §  85. 

^  Nic.  de  Lyra  says  that  the  Jews  distinguish  two  command- 
ments in  the  first  word  (i)  the  preface  (Exod.  xx.  2)  enjoins  '  affir- 
mative quod  ille  habeatur  pro  vero  Deo  qui  eduxit  filios  Israel  de 

E 


48  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

2.  Philo  adopts  a  more  natural  arrangement  of  the  Com- 
mandments, when  he  divides  them  into  two  pentads  :  the 
first  containing  the  precepts  of  'piety,'  the  second  the  pre- 
cepts of  '  probity.'  The  first  table,  he  says,  is  concerned 
with  that  sole  rule  of  God  (monarchia)  by  which  the  world 
is  governed.  Consequently,  if  duty  to  God  is  the  begin 
ning,  duty  to  parents  is  the  fitting  conclusion  of  the  pentad, 
since  they  are  the  visible  representatives  of  God  on  earth. 
Philo  further  points  out  that  all  the  remaining  precepts 
resemble  each  other,  and  differ  from  the  fifth,  in  being 
prohibitive  ('  Thou  shalt  not ') . 

There  is  much  to  be  said  for  this  arrangement,  which  has 
in  fact  been  virtually  adopted  by  the  Fathers  of  the  first 
four  centuries  and  by  the  Eastern  Church  generally.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  only  the  first  five  commandments  are 
enforced  by  reasons  or  sanctions.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
should  be  noticed  that  the  fifth  commandment  is  co- 
ordinated with  those  of  the  second  table  in  St.  Matt, 
xix.  i8,  19  (and  parallel  passages).  The  truth  is  that 
this  precept  stands  on  the  confines  of  both  tables,  since 
parentage  (as  Philo  observes)  constitutes  a  kind  of  link 
between  the  divine  and  the  human,  and  implies  a  claim 
on  the  offspring  which  is  necessarily  akin  to  that  of  the 
Creator  Himself.^  This  arrangement  has  found  favour 
with  several  modern  Protestant  writers. '^ 

Aegypto  in  tot  signis  mirabilibus  ;     (2)  Non  habebis  deos  alienos, 
etc.,  in  quo  prohibetur  negative  ne  cultus  latriae  alteri  impendatur.' 

1  Cp.  Grotius'  comment  :  '  Proximi  Deo  sunt  parentes  et  veluti 
in  terns  dii  quidam  quorum  ministerio  Deus  usus  est  ut  nos  in 
pulcherrimum  templum  suum  introduceret.'  So  Nicholas  de  Lyra  : 
'  Sicut  Deus  est  principium  omnium,  ita  parentes  habent  rationem 
principii  respectu  filiorum.' 

2  e.g.,  Schultz,  Old  Testament  Theology,  ii.  47.  Geffken,  and 
other§. 


THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  DECALOGUE         49 

3.  Augustine  discusses  the  most  suitable  method  of 
arranging  the  commandments  in  his  Quaestiones  in  Exodum.^ 
The  system  he  proposes  is  that  which  has  been  traditional 
in  the  Roman  and  Lutheran  churches.  According  to  his 
arrangement,  the  first  and  second  words  form  a  single  pre- 
cept, so  that  there  are  three  which  relate  to  the  duty  that 
man  owes  to  God ;  the  tenth  is  divided  into  two  precepts, 
the  ninth  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  wife  '  ; 
and  the  tenth  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,' 
etc.  Thus,  as  he  believes,  there  are  seven  words  which 
prescribe  man's  duty  to  his  neighbour. 

This  division,  though  very  widely  accepted,  seems  to  be 
based  on  d  priori  considerations.  '  To  me,'  writes  Augus- 
tine, '  it  seems  more  fitting  [congruentius]  to  regard  the 
commandments  as  three  and  seven,  inasmuch  as  the  former 
which  relate  to  God,  seem  on  careful  consideration  to  sug- 
gest a  reference  to  the  Trinity.'  This  is  stated  more  dog- 
matically and  with  further  reasons  alleged  by  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  in  his  brief  but  exhaustive  inquiry  into  the  sub- 
ject,2  but  he  frankly  bases  his  contention  on  Augustine's 
authority.  As  regards  the  division  of  the  last  precept 
into  two,  it  should  be  noticed  that  such  an  arrangement  is 
suggested  by  the  text  of  the  precept  in  Deuteronomy  v., 
where  the  mention  of  the  '  wife '  precedes  that  of  the 
'  house  '  and  other  property,  a  different  verb  being  em- 
ployed for  '  desire  '  or  '  covet '  in  each  case.  ^  This  is 
thought  by  Augustine  and  Aquinas  to  imply  the  prohibition 

1  Lib.  ii.,  quaest.  71. 

2  Summa  Theologiae,  i.  ii*®.   100.  4. 

3  The  use  of  different  verbs  is  thought  by  Dr.  Driver  to  be  merely 
a  rhetorical  variation,  and  to  have  no  special  significance.  The 
order  in  Exodus  ('  house,'  '  wife,'  '  servant,'  '  ox  ')  is  well  illustrated 
by  a  line  in  Hesiod,  Opera,  403  :  oTkov  fx\v  TrpwricrTa,  yuvaiKa  re,  /3ovv 
T    dpo  Tjpa  (Grotius,  ad  loc). 


50  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

of  two  different  forms  of  desire,  corresponding  to  two  dis- 
tinct kinds  of  good  [bonum  delectahile,  bonum  utile)  ;  but 
the  parallel  passage  in  Exodus  does  not  in  any  way  favour 
and  rather  seems  to  contradict  such  a  supposition.  Indeed, 
it  seems  almost  certain  that  the  original  precept  ended 
with  the  word  '  house,'  the  examples  of  property  which 
follow  being  a  later  expansion.  Finally,  in  St.  Mark  x.  19, 
and  Romans  xiii.  9,  the  tenth  word  is  treated  as  a  single 
precept. 

The  question  relating  to  the  exact  mode  of  dividing  the 
commandments  is  not  of  any  great  importance.  There  is 
some  significance  in  the  fact  that  Jews  and  Christians  alike 
all  agree  in  enumerating  ten  commandments.  Many  mysti- 
cal writers  have  dwelt  on  the  symbolism  of  this  number — 
its  fitness  to  denote  perfection  or  completeness — the  whole 
duty  of  man  being  comprised  in  the  Decalogue.  In  any 
case  the  number  ten  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Penta- 
teuch, perhaps  as  having  practical  convenience  for  mne- 
monic purposes ;  but  not  improbably  it  was  regarded 
as  sacred,  like  three,  seven  and  twelve,  which  were  also 
commonly  connected  with  religious  objects  and  conceptions.* 

1  See  the  article  '  Number  '  by  Prof.  Konig  in  Hastings'  Diet, 
of  the  Bible,  vol.  3. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  (p.  47). 

According  to  a  Rabbinic  tradition  the  entire  Decalogue  is  included 
n  the  Shema  {'  Hear,  O  Israel,  etc.),  which  was  commonly  believed 
to  embrace  three  passages:  Deut.  vi.  4-9;  xi.  13-21;  Num.  xv. 
37-41.  See  this  worked  out  in  detail  in  Taylor,  Sayings,  etc.,  pp. 
116-119, 


THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS 


'  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  Thou  shalt  have  none  other 
gods  before  Me.' 


CHAPTER    III 
THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT 

THE  solemn  preface  to  the  Decalogue  lays  down  the 
principle  that  the  moral  life  is  rooted  in  the  fear 
and  love  of  God ;  that  conscience,  bearing  witness  to  a 
law  written  in  the  heart  of  man,  is  His  voice  ;  that  His 
claim  extends  to  every  sphere  of  human  life  and  activity. 
All  these  words  that  follow,  covering  the  whole  field  of 
duty,  are  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High.  Other 
precepts,  religious,  civil  and  ceremonial  are  delivered  to 
Israel  by  Moses.  Those  which  concern  man  as  man  are 
uttered  by  God  Himself. 

The  idea  of  good,  then,  is  revealed  or  communicated  to 
man  by  his  Creator.  He  hath  shewed  thee,  0  man,  what  is 
good.^  The  claim  of  righteousness  is  the  personal  claim 
of  God  Himself  upon  His  reasonable  creatures.  Accord- 
ingly, the  preface  to  the  Decalogue  proclaims  the  doctrine 
of  God  in  such  plain  and  simple  form  as  Israel,  in  its  rudi- 
mentary and  barbarous  condition,  could  apprehend.  / 
am  Jehovah  thy  God.  Rehgion  and  morahty  are  inseparably 
combined  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  Israel's  deliverance 
from  Egypt  was  the  starting-point  not  only  of  a  purer  and 
more  spiritual  faith,  but  of  a  higher  morahty  than  the  world 
had  yet  known.     In  the  Decalogue,  therefore,  we  find  a 

1  Micah  vi.  8. 

63 


54  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

blending  of  moral  precepts  \vith  doctrinal  instruction.  In 
revealing  His  mind  and  will  for  man,  God  discloses  some- 
thing also  of  His  Nature  and  Personality  ;  and  thus  the 
fundamental  principle  is  asserted  that  righteousness  is  the 
necessary  condition  of  spiritual  enlightenment.  For  cen- 
turies, as  we  have  seen,  the  Jewish  people  has  regarded 
the  preface  to  the  first  '  word  '  as  constituting  in  itself  a 
commandment,^  thus  bearing  unconscious  witness  to  the 
principle  that  the  true  law  of  man's  life  is  the  revealed  char- 
acter of  God,  and  that  likeness  to  God  is  the  goal  of  his 
moral  development. 


We  may  briefly  review  the  doctrinal  truths  which  form 
the  foundation  of  the  great  and  first  commandment. 

I.  There  is,  first,  the  mystery  of  the  divine  personality  : 
I  am  Jehovah.  This  is  the  master-truth  which  is  impressed 
on  Israel  by  the  entire  method  and  spirit  of  the  divine 
self-revelation.  The  Old  Testament  contains  no  trace  of 
abstract  or  metaphysical  conceptions  of  Deity.  It  is 
throughout  the  record  of  the  personal  action  and  self-com- 
munication of  a  living  Being,  calhng  man  into  a  personal 
relationship  with  Himself.  The  frequent  use  of  anthro- 
pomorphic expressions — the  ascription  to  Jehovah  of  love 
and  hatred,  wrath  and  jealousy,  scorn  and  even  repentance 
— tended  to  impress  upon  the  Hebrew  mind,  perhaps  in 
the  only  possible  way,  the  basal  truth  of  catholic  religion, 
namely  that  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe  is  akin 
to  man  in  the  essential  characteristics  of  His  being  :  He 
wills.  He  loves,  He  thinks.  He  speaks,  He  appeals.  He  is 
free  to  carry  out  His  purposes  of  judgment  or  of  grace. 

1  See  above,  p.  47,  and  cp.  Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers, 
pp.  108  foil. 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT  55 

He  is  utterly  distinct  from  the  course  of  physical  nature, 
which  He  transcends  and  controls.  Thus,  since  man  is 
made  in  His  image,  morality  consists  in  the  fulfilment  of 
personal  relationships.  ^  God  is,  in  other  words,  the  centre 
of  a  realm  of  personalities,  destined  to  find  and  to  fulfil 
in  communion  and  intercourse  with  Himself  the  law  of 
their  creaturely  perfection.  It  may  be  questioned,  indeed, 
whether  such  a  term  as  '  the  Absolute '  has  any  religious 
value  or  any  moral  significance  whatever.  Religion  can 
only  become  indissolubly  connected  with  ethics  if  the  neuter 
term  '  the  good '  is  replaced  by  the  characteristic  phrase  of 
Hebrew  prophecy.  The  Holy  One  of  Israel ;  a  phrase  which 
our  Lord  seems  to  repeat  in  a  simple  and  more  universal 
form  when  He  says  One  there  is  Who  is  good  {eh  o  dyad6<i) } 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  human  nature 
is  a  real  image  and  mirror  of  the  divine.  We  find  ourselves 
compelled  by  a  necessity  of  thought  to  interpret  God  by 
the  phenomena  of  human  personality.  The  preface  to  the 
Decalogue  encourages  us  so  to  do  in  the  mere  collocation 
of  '  I  '  and  '  thou.'  Yet  we  need  the  caution  that  we 
must  not  think  of  the  wisdom  and  the  ways  of  the  Almighty 
as  if  they  did  not  infinitely  transcend  the  intelligence  of 
man ;  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  nothing  is  to  be  believed 
concerning  God  other,  or  more,  than  man  discovers  in  him- 
self or  in  other  creatures.  Man  attains  to  a  real  knowledge 
of  the  divine  nature  in  so  far  as  he  recognizes  by  faith  his 
vocation  to  imitate  God,  and  makes  such  imitation  the 
law  of  his  life.  But  there  must  always  be  a  height  which  he 
cannot  scale,  a  depth  which  he  cannot  penetrate.  It  is  a 
favourite  thesis  of  the  Cambridge  Platonist,  John  Smith, 

1  Cp.  A.  B.  Davidson,  The  Theology  oj  the  Old  Testament,  pp. 
106  foil. 

2  Matt.  xix.  17.     Cp.  p.  18  above. 


56  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

that '  the  best  way  to  know  God  is  by  an  attentive  reflection 
upon  our  own  souls  ' ;  but  he  points  out  with  equal  emphasis 
that  this  knowledge  is  necessarily  limited  by  the  conditions  of 
human  mortality.  Consequently  our  knowledge  is  but  here  in 
its  infancy  ;  '  there  is  an  higher  knowledge  or  an  higher  degree 
of  this  knowledge  that  doth  not,  that  cannot,  descend  upon 
us  in  these  earthly  habitations.'  The  sight  of  God  which 
we  may  now  enjoy  '  makes  pious  souls  breathe  after  that 
blessed  time  when  mortality  shall  be  swallowed  up  of  life, 
when  they  shall  no  more  behold  the  Divinity  through  those 
dark  mediums  that  eclipse  the  blessed  sight  of  it.'  ^ 

Finally,  since  God  is  a  personal  Being,  it  is  clear  that 
man's  conception  of  duty  is  enlarged  according  to  the 
degree  of  his  knowledge  of  God.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  the  words  /  am  Jehovah  thy  God  conveyed  a  far  wider 
and  deeper  significance  to  the  generation  which  had  experi- 
enced the  teaching  of  the  eighth  century  prophets  than  to 
the  generation  of  the  Exodus.  The  words  of  God  had 
become  charged  with  deeper  meaning,  and  were  seen  to 
cover  a  wider  field  of  human  activity  and  thought  than  was 
once  imagined.  So  for  us  the  fuller  unveiling  of  the  divine 
personality  through  the  immense  enlargement  of  human 
knowledge  involves  a  greater  measure  of  moral  obligation, 
a  more  constraining  call  to  obey  and  intelhgently  to  co- 
operate with  the  good,  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God.^ 
Duty  is  more  clearly  seen  to  be  the  wilhng  and  free  service 
offered  by  sons  to  a  Father. 

2.  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God.  We  have  already  pointed 
out  the  force  of  the  appeal  to  Israel  implied  in  the  mighty 
acts  of  redemptive  love  which  it  had  witnessed.  The  ten 
words  proceed  from  One  Who  has  manifested  His  righteous- 

1  Select  Discourses,  i.  §  3.  *  Rom.  xii.  2. 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT  57 

ness  and  lovingkindness  in  the  deliverance  of  an  enslaved 
people  from  bondage.  The  call  to  obedience  takes  the 
form  of  a  personal  appeal.  Cor  ad  cor  loquitur.  We  cannot 
fail  to  notice  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  the  phrase 
Jehovah  thy  God  occurs  five  times  in  the  course  of  the  Deca- 
logue, as  if  to  remind  Israel  that  gratitude  and  love  must 
be  the  root  and  mainspring  of  all  duty.  This  seems  to 
have  been  recognized  in  the  Passover  ritual  as  it  was  observed 
in  our  Lord's  time.  It  was  customary  for  the  head  of  the 
family  to  rehearse  the  events  connected  with  the  Exodus, 
dwelling  upon  the  bitterness  of  the  bondage  which  Israel 
had  endured  in  Egypt,  and  the  blessedness  of  the  great 
deliverance.  The  recital  ended  with  a  formula  of  thanks- 
giving which  may  possibly  have  suggested  the  language  of 
the  eucharistic  '  preface '  in  the  earliest  liturgies  : — 

'  Wherefore  we  are  bound  to  confess,  praise,  glorify, 
honour,  exalt,  celebrate  and  bless,  extol  and  magnify  Him 
Who  wrought  for  our  fathers  and  for  us  all  these  wonders. 
He  brought  us  forth  from  slavery  to  liberty,  from  sadness 
to  joy,  from  grief  to  festival,  from  darkness  into  great 
light,  from  subjection  to  redemption,  and  we  say  before 
Him,  AUeluia  ! '  1 

The  very  name  '  Jehovah  '  in  fact  contained  a  kind  of 
pledge  that  what  God  had  been  to  Israel  in  the  past.  He 
was  willing  and  able  to  be  for  the  future  :  the  Saviour  and 
strengthening  Guide  of  His  people  throughout  all  the  toils 
of  their  pilgrimage.  He  had  made  Himself  known  in  action 
and  fact  as  a  personal  Being,  willing  to  enter  into  cove- 
nant with  man,  and  able  to  control  the  course  of  history  in 
fulfilment    of   His   purposes    of   grace.     No   words    could 

1  Pesachim  x.  5,  cited  by  R.  M.  WooUey,  The  Liturgy  of  the  Primi- 
tive Church,  p.  64. 


58  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

adequately  declare — only  the  subsequent  course  of  history 
could  manifest— all  that  Jehovah  was  willing  to  do  for  His 
people.  1  This  faith  lies  behind  the  acceptance  by  Israel  of 
the  terms  of  the  covenant :  all  that  Jehovah  hath  spoken 
will  we  do  and  he  obedient?  It  was  a  faith  which  was 
gradually  widened  and  deepened  by  the  circumstances  of 
the  national  history,  and  by  the  ethical  teachings  of  pro- 
phecy ;  a  faith  ever  expectant  of  some  fresh  manifestation 
of  Jehovah's  grace.  The  will  or  mind  revealed  in  the  com- 
mandments was  one  that  looked  to  the  future ;  that  cher- 
ished far-reaching  purposes  for  the  human  race  ;  that  would 
fulfil  itself  in  many  ways,  and  by  many  gradual  steps  lead 
man  to  God.^  The  name  '  He  Who  is  '  or  '  will  be  '  has 
the  same  kind  of  fulness  of  significance  which  we  connect 
with  the  repeated  '  I  am  *  of  our  Lord.  Both  to  nations 
and  individuals  God  Himself  is  the  satisfaction  of  every 
need,  the  answer  to  every  prayer,  the  Author  of  every 
spiritual  blessing.  He  gives  what  He  requires,  and  if  He 
calls  man  to  holiness,  enables  him  effectually  to  respond. 
3.  Another  point  of  doctrine  implied  in  the  preface  to 
the  Decalogue  is  the  individuality  and  moral  responsibility 
of  man.  The  words  '  Thee  '  and  '  Thou  '  recognize  the 
incommunicable  dignity  of  each  man's  personality,  while 
at  the  same  time  they  place  all  men  upon  one  level  of  obli- 
gation, so  far  as  the  primary  principles  of  morality  are  con- 
cerned. In  the  earliest  stage  of  Israel's  history  the  sense 
of  individuality  is  undeveloped.  '  The  habit  of  the  old 
world  was  to  think  much  of  the  community  and  little  of 

1  See  Exod.  iii.  14,  where  the  versions  of  Aquila  and  Theodotion 
have  ea-ofxai  [os]  £cro/x.at.     See  McNeile's  note,  ad  loc. 

2  Exod.  xxiv.  7. 

3  Cp.  Iren.  adv.  haer.  iv.  9.  3  :    '  Non  pauci  gradus  qui  ducuut 
hominem  ad  Deum.' 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  59 

the  individual  life.  .  .  .  The  God  was  the  God  of  the 
nation  or  tribe,  and  He  knew  and  cared  for  the  individual 
only  as  a  member  of  the  community.'  1  This  is  obviously 
true,  but  the  Old  Testament  seems  in  more  than  one  way 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  doctrine  of  individual  responsi- 
bility and  for  what  is  its  complement — a  doctrine  of  the 
divine  providence  and  care  for  individuals.  Thus  it  repre- 
sents the  redemptive  movement  as  beginning  with  an  indi- 
vidual man's  venture  of  faith,  and  it  sets  before  us  at  each 
stage  of  the  history  the  figures  of  men,  on  whose  prompt 
obedience,  or  bold  ventures  of  faith,  the  cause  of  God's 
kingdom  from  time  to  time  depended.  In  self-surrender 
to  the  call  of  God,  the  soul  of  man  became  conscious  of 
itself  and  of  its  need  of  divine  grace  and  guidance.  More- 
over, although  it  is  with  a  family  or  group  of  tribes  that 
Almighty  God  establishes  His  covenant-relationship,  and 
the  Mosaic  legislation  as  a  whole  is  addressed  to,  and  is 
intended  to  regulate,  the  life  of  a  community ;  yet  the 
mere  fact  that  God  raised  up  for  His  people  leaders  of  com- 
manding personality,  like  Moses  himself,  was  an  indication 
of  the  part  which  individuality  was  destined  to  play  in 
the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  purpose.  We  find, 
indeed,  an  express  recognition  of  man's  personal  responsi- 
bility in  many  of  the  precepts  of  the  *  Book  of  the  Covenant,' 
which  deal  with  the  duties  or  offences  of  individuals  in 
particular  cases.  But  the  Decalogue  in  any  case  (at  least 
in  its  present  form)  belongs  to  an  age  when  the  conscious- 
ness of  individuality  had  already  come  to  something  like 
maturity.  Thus  the  statement  that  Jehovah  visits  the 
sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  upon  the  third  and 
upon  the  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  Him,  implies 

1  Robertson  Smith,   The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  pp.   241,   242  ; 
cp.  Church,  The  Discipline  of  the  Christian  Character,  serm.   i. 


6o  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

that  the  welfare  of  a  small  group  of  persons  in  the  com- 
munity depends  upon  the  conduct  of  a  single  individual. 

Accordingly  we  may  regard  the  commandments  as  wit- 
nessing, though  in  rudimentary  fashion,  to  the  truth  of 
man's  relation  as  an  individual  soul  to  God ;  just  as  it 
anticipates  in  the  tenth  commandment  that  '  inwardness ' 
which  is  characteristic  of  New  Testament  ethics.  In 
respect  of  both  these  features  the  Decalogue  may  claim  a 
certain  universality.  It  is  a  code  for  all  men  under  all 
circumstances.  Their  rights  as  individuals  are  conditioned 
by  the  fulfilment  of  their  duties  as  members  of  a  community. 

4.  Let  it  be  remembered,  finally,  that  the  true  end  of  man, 
is  moral  and  spiritual  liberty.  Jehovah  appeals  to  man's 
whole  personality,  as  redeemed  by  Himself  from  the  house 
of  bondage,  in  order  that  he  may  taste  of  true  freedom. 
To  separate  oneself  from  the  world  and  to  live  unto  God  is 
to  enter  the  house  of  liberty.  ^  It  is  from  this  point  of 
view  that  we  should  consider  the  negative  or  prohibitory 
form  of  the  commandments.  They  were  given  to  a 
people  who  in  their  enslaved  and  degraded  condition 
had  contracted  habits  of  idolatry  and  vice  which  must 
be  eradicated  before  they  could  rise  to  higher  things. 
But  we  have  learned  in  the  school  of  Christ  that 
restraint,  mortification,  is  only  the  initial  stage  in 
the  road  that  leads  to  life.  Israel's  separation  from  Egypt 
with  its  idols  had  as  its  goal  the  service  of  the  living 
God.  So  in  all  training  of  character,  a  negative  discipline 
must  precede  the  unfettered  exercise  of  capacities,  the  full 
development  of  personality.  The  negative  form  of  the 
Decalogue  corresponds  to  this  necessary  process  of  the 
moral  life ;    it  answers  to  that  primary  aspect  of  conver- 

'  Orir^on. 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  6i 

sion  which  is  described  in  the  phrase  repentance  jrom  dead 
works,  but  which  from  another  point  of  view  may  be  regarded 
as  a  turning  of  the  soul  toward  God.^  For  prohibition  is 
not,  and  cannot  be,  the  last  word  of  God  to  man.  His 
claim  on  us  is  positive  :  the  claim  of  One  Who  seeks  the 
love  and  trust  of  His  creatures.  The  end  of  the  command- 
ment as  St.  Paul  says  is  love.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all 
thy  mind  and  with  all  thy  strength  ;  and,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself.^  In  the  prophetic  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  among  them  we  may  reckon  for  present 
purposes  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  we  see  the  result  of  the 
stern  discipline  to  which  Israel  was  submitted.  We  see 
the  awakening  of  religious  affection,  bearing  its  fruit  in 
due  season  in  the  tender  devotion  and  the  thirst  for  God 
which  breathes  in  the  Psalter.  It  is  through  the  rigorous 
discipline  of  the  will,  through  the  self-restraint  and  self- 
mortification  involved  in  obedience,  that  we  train  our 
capacity  for  feeling  and  affection.  Love,  peace  and  joy  in 
God  are  the  climax  and  crown  of  a  life  of  which  the  founda- 
tion is  laid  in  steadfastness,  meekness  (that  is,  submission 
to  discipline)  and  temperance  (the  control  of  impulse  and 
desire) . 

By  way  of  summary,  it  may  be  said  that  in  the  command- 
ments Jehovah  sets  before  His  people  the  way  of  life.  Life 
in  its  highest  sense  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  is  sustained  by 
continual  dependence  upon  Him.  It  consists  in  the  due 
fulfilment  of  personal  relationships :  in  the  knowledge  of 
God,  in  the  service  of  our  neighbour,  in  the  sacrifice  of  self. 
As  we  approach  the  detailed  study  of  the  ten  words,  we 
may  remember  that  the  saying,  //  thou  wouldest  enter  into 

1  Heb.  vi.   I  ;    Acts  xx.  21.  2  ]y[^rk  xii.  30. 


62  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

life,  keep  the  commandments}  is  an  utterance  of  Him  Who 
is  the  Life.  Commenting  upon  this  circumstance,  Clement 
of  Alexandria  finely  observes  :  '  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  is 
glad  to  be  asked  a  question  appropriate  to  Him,  a  question 
addressed  to  the  Life  concerning  life,  to  the  Saviour  con- 
cerning salvation,  to  the  Teacher  concerning  the  sum  of  the 
doctrines  taught  by  Him,  to  the  Truth  concerning  the  true 
immortality,  to  the  Word  concerning  the  Father's  word,  to 
the  Perfect  One  concerning  the  perfect  rest,  to  the  Incorrup- 
tible concerning  the  sure  incorruption.  He  is  enquired  of 
concerning  those  very  things  for  which  He  came  down  from 
above.  .  .  .  And  being  called  "  Good,"  He  takes  occa- 
sion first  from  that  very  word  to  begin  His  instruction, 
directing  the  disciple  to  God,  the  Good,  the  Primal  Being, 
the  only  Source  of  that  eternal  life  which  the  Son  hath 
received  from  Him  and  bestows  upon  us.'  ^ 

Life,  which  is  the  promise  of  the  Gospel,  consists  in  fellow- 
ship with  Deity  ;  and  since  the  moral  law  is  the  eternal 
bond  of  union  between  God  and  man,  our  Saviour  points 
to  the  fulfilment  of  the  commandments  as  the  way  of  life. 
As  they  come  from  God  and  therefore  claim  the  obedience 
of  His  reasonable  creatures,  so  they  lead  to  God  because 
they  define  in  broad  outline  the  life  of  love  ;  and,  since  the 
commandments  can  only  be  interpreted  aright  under  the 
guidance  of  the  spirit  of  love,  the  only  complete  exposition 
of  the  essential  spirit  and  significance  is  to  be  found  in  the 
life  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 

II 

Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  before  Me} 
According  to  the  arrangement  of  the  Decalogue  that  pre- 

1  Matt.  xix.   17.  2  Qiiis  dives  salvetur,  6. 

3  or  beside  Me,  R.V.  marg. 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  63 

vails  in  the  West,  the  first  two  commandments  form  a  single 
precept,  the  second  being  the  necessary  complement  of  the 
first.  The  distinction  between  them,  however,  is  sufficiently 
marked  to  warrant  us  in  dealing  with  them  separately. 
The  first  gives  prominence  to  the  redemptive  grace  of 
Jehovah  ;  the  second  to  His  righteousness  as  the  moral 
Governor  of  the  universe.  The  first  dwells  on  the  mystery 
of  the  divine  unity  ;  the  second  on  the  spirituality  of  the 
divine  nature.  The  first  implies  that  God  can  be  possessed 
by  man  as  the  Author  of  all  possible  blessedness  ;  the 
second,  that  He  cannot  be  forsaken  or  displeased  by  His 
reasonable  creatures  except  at  their  own  infinite  peril. 
Each  of  the  two  commandments,  in  fact,  contains  a  moral 
principle  which  is  rooted  in  the  divine  self-revelation.  God 
is  one,  therefore  no  other  being  can  satisfy  the  spiritual 
needs  of  man.  God  is  spirit  :  therefore  no  created  object 
can  adequately  represent  Him,  and  no  worship  befits  Him 
which  is  not  offered  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

The  first  commandment  brings  before  us  the  thought  of 
Almighty  God  as  One  Who  has  already  manifested  His 
Being  and  Character  in  nature,  in  conscience,  in  prophecy, 
in  history,  as  the  living  and  omnipresent  object  of  human 
trust  and  hope. 

At  the  period  of  the  Exodus  the  Hebrews  were  as  yet  in 
a  rudimentary  stage  of  their  education.  Inheriting  the 
vague  animistic  beliefs  of  their  Semitic  ancestors,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  they  had  already  advanced,  even  before  the 
descent  into  Egypt,  so  far  towards  monolatry  as  to  acknow- 
ledge Jehovah,  the  God  Whom  Moses  proclaimed,  and  Whom 
their  immediate  forefathers  had  worshipped,  as  their  own 
tribal  deity  :   the  God  of  their  fathers,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  ^ 

*  Cp.  Exod.  iii.   18  ;  iv.  5. 


64  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

In  Egypt  they  had  been  surrounded,  and  possibly  attracted, 
by  the  religious  emblems  of  an  immense  system  of  poly- 
theism. But  they  learned  in  the  events  of  the  Exodus  the 
indisputable  truth  that  their  tribal  God  was  not  only  in- 
comparably superior  in  power  to  the  deities  of  heathendom  ; 
but  also  that  He  was  a  righteous  Being,  the  Avenger  of  the 
helpless  and  oppressed,  the  compassionate  Redeemer  of  an 
enslaved  people.  This  knowledge  of  God  dated  from  the 
overthrow  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  Red  Sea  ^ ;  and  the  Deity 
thus  revealed  had  deigned  to  enter  into  a  covenant  of  grace 
with  Israel  and  to  make  them  His  own  people.  /  am  the 
Lord  your  God  which  hroiight  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  to 
he  your  God.^  Accordingly  from  this  time  forward  the 
Hebrews  regarded  themselves  as  the  people  of  Jehovah,  and 
their  whole  future  as  a  nation  depended  upon  their  fidelity 
to  their  merciful  and  holy  Deliverer.  The  essential  con- 
dition of  fulfilling  their  divine  vocation  was  faithfulness  to 
the  light  they  already  enjoyed.  They  were  called  to  a  life 
of  fellowship  with  God,  to  a  life  of  ever  advancing  know- 
ledge and  ever  more  intelligent  obedience.  So  we  lind  the 
prophets  calling  on  their  contemporaries  to  walk  in  the  light 
of  Jehovah,  to  jollow  on  to  know  Jehovah,  to  seek  Jehovah, 
that  is  to  seek  righteousness  and  meekness.^  It  was  through 
the  growing  conviction  that  Jehovah,  as  compared  with  the 
gods  of  the  heathen  nations,  was  a  righteous  Being,  that 
Israel  advanced,  under  the  guidance  of  its  prophets,  to  a 
true  '  ethical  monotheism  ' ;  and  learned  that  since  right- 
eousness is  the  supreme  law  for  the  universe,  the  God  of  Israel 
must  be  also  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth.* 

1  Hosea  xii.  9  ;    xiii.  4  :    /  am  the  Lord  thy  God  from  the  land  0} 
Egypt. 

2  Num.  XV.  41.  3  isa.  ii.  5;    Hosea  vi.  3;    Zeph.  ii.  3. 
*  Micah  iv.   13. 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  65 

In  the  first  commandment  the  appeal  of  duty  is  based  on 
that  which  man  already  knows  concerning  the  divine  nature. 
In  every  generation  the  call  is  repeated,  Thou  shall  have  none 
other  gods  before  Me.  Each  generation,  if  it  would  rise  to  the 
height  of  its  moral  possibilities,  is  bound  to  be  true  to  its 
present  knowledge  of  God's  character  and  will.  Each 
generation  finds  itself  confronted  with  new  problems  of 
duty,  and  these  have  to  be  brought  into  the  light  of  truth, 
and  solved  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  truth.  It  is 
clear,  therefore,  that  the  law  of  duty  looms  larger  and  more 
majestic  in  proportion  to  the  fulness  and  explicitness  of 
revelation.  He  Who  appeals  to  us  in  the  moral  law  is  the 
same  Being  Who  spoke  to  Israel  of  old ;  but  He  has  more 
fully  unveiled  His  character  and  His  purpose  for  mankind. 
Science  has  disclosed,  ever  more  richly  and  insistently,  the 
infinite  range  of  His  wisdom  and  His  power  ;  history  has 
continually  manifested  in  new  instances  His  inexorable 
righteousness  and  His  persistent  hostility  to  sin.  In  all 
greatness  of  human  character,  in  all  grandeur  and  nobility 
of  gifts,  mental  and  spiritual,  He  has  displayed  something 
of  the  wealth  and  splendour  of  His  thoughts  concerning 
humanity.  But  in  Ihese  lasl  days  He  halh  spoken  unto  us  in 
a  Son  ^ ;  in  Whom  He  has  manifested  both  the  length  and 
breadth  and  depth  of  His  own  redemptive  compassion,  and 
the  spiritual  heights  which  human  nature  is  capable  of  at- 
taining. With  a  vastly  deeper  sense  of  its  inexhaustible 
significance  than  the  Jew  could  possess,  the  modern  Chris- 
tian hears  the  message  of  the  Decalogue.  For  him  the 
appeal  that  lies  behind  the  words  '  Thou  shalt,'  '  Thou  shalt 
not,'  is  that  of  a  Father  and  Saviour  '  Whom  to  know  is 
life  and  joy  to  make  mention  of  His  name  '  ^  ;  Who  not  only 

1  Heb.  i.  2.  2  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  i.  2.   3. 


66  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

bids  us  be  like  Himself,  but  bestows  the  grace  we  need  to 
respond  effectually  to  His  call.  In  a  word,  the  first  com- 
mandment comes  to  us  charged  with  that  significance  which 
only  the  earthly  life  of  the  Son  of  God  could  impart  to  it. 
The  great  and  first  commandment  is  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind}  To  *  have  '  none  other  god  is  to  rest  in  the  only 
true  God,  Who  has  declared  the  threefold  Name  in  His  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  To  know  God  as  He  has  revealed  Himself  is 
to  love  Him,  and  the  test  of  love  is  obedience  to  His  will. 

We  may  think  of  the  commandment  as  implying  three 
main  obligations. 

I.  There  is,  first,  the  obligation  of  repentance.  The 
words  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  before  Me  may  be  re- 
garded as  recalling  man  from  every  form  of  false  worship 
and  self-devotion.  So  we  find  St.  Paul  immediately  con- 
necting the  call  to  repentance  with  the  revelation  of  God 
in  Christ.  The  tifues  of  ignorance,  he  says,  God  overlooked  ; 
hut  now  He  commandeth  men  that  they  should  all  everywhere 
repent}  '  All  men  '  because  there  is  no  distinction  :  for  all 
in  different  ways  and  degrees  have  sinned  and  fall  short  of 
the  glory  of  God}  Certainly  the  history  of  Israel,  previous 
to  the  period  of  the  exile,  is  a  record  of  repeated  apostasies. 
The  witness  of  Psalmists  and  Prophets  is  decisive.  Many 
a  time  did  He  deliver  them  ;  hut  they  rehelled  against  Him  with 
their  own  inventions}  It  has  been  suggested  that  idolatry 
exercised  this  fatal  fascination  for  the  Jewish  people  because 
it  implied  a  lower  level  of  morality  than  the  austere  religion 
of  Jehovah.  It  satisfied  deep-seated  needs  and  impulses  of 
human  nature.     It  laid  no  heavy  burden  upon  conscience. 


1  Matt.  xxii.  37.  ^  Acts  xvii.  30.  ^  Rom.  iii.  22,  23. 

*  Ps.  cvi.  42.     See  also  the  '  theodicy  '  of  Ezek.  xx. 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT  67 

It  made  no  stern  demand  upon  faith.  In  any  case  it  seems 
that  the  obstinate  tendency  to  idolatry,  sometimes  in  coarse, 
sometimes  in  refined  forms,  was  scarcely  eradicated  even 
by  the  severe  discipline  of  the  captivity.  Meanwhile  the 
Gentiles,  unfaithful  to  the  light  of  reason  and  conscience, 
became  vain  in  their  reasonings.^  In  the  New  Testament 
the  word  '  vanity '  is  used  to  describe  the  condition  of  the 
heathen  world.  The  entire  conversation  of  the  Gentiles 
that  know  not  God,  their  mode  of  life,  their  ideals,  their  aims, 
their  pursuits,  their  endeavours,  were  vain.  The  objects 
of  their  worship  were  '  vain  things.'  They  walked  in  utter 
aimlessness  of  mind,  without  moral  purpose  or  spiritual 
aspiration.  They  had  missed  the  true  end  of  existence, 
since  they  had  failed  to  feel  after  Him  and  find  Him  Whose 
power  and  divinity  they  might  have  discerned  in  the  works 
of  creation.  Whose  future  judgment  of  them  and  of  their 
deeds  was  attested  by  the  solemn  presages  of  conscience.  2 
The  precept  then  is  a  call  to  the  soul  of  man,  ever  repeated 
in  the  history  of  religion  to  turn  from  vanities  to  serve  the 
living  God.^  To  each  generation  it  speaks  with  new  force 
and  meaning.  For  there  are  many  forms  of  false  worship 
in  the  world,  many  idols  of  the  kind  against  which  St.  John 
warns  the  Church  in  a  passage  which  is  possibly  the  latest 
utterance  of  Scripture.*  Religions  are  many  if  we  reckon 
as  religion  that  which  '  a  man's  heart  owns  to  as  most  mighty 
and  most  irresistible  in  all  things  round  him  ;  what  he  bows 
down  to  and  sincerely  worships  in  the  secret  sanctuary  of 
will  and  desire  ' ;  what '  fills  and  holds  captive  his  soul  and 

^  Rom.  i.  21. 

2  I  Pet.  i.  18.     Cp.  Acts  xiv.  15  (where  fidraia  =  '  idols  '   and 
'  idolatry  ')  ;    Eph.  iv.   17  ;    Acts  xvii.  27. 
=*  Cp.  I  Thess.  i.  9. 
*  I  John  V.  20.     See  Westcott,  ad  he. 


68  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

heart  and  mind  ;  in  which  he  trusts  above  all  things  ;  which 
above  all  things  he  longs  for  and  hopes  for,'  ^  To  multi- 
tudes money  is  an  idol,  for  covetousness  is  idolatry.  They 
look  to  wealth  for  happiness,  security,  social  power  and 
prestige,  forgetting  that  they  place  it  on  a  level  with  Christ 
if  they  regard  it  as  a  necessary  condition  of  happiness.^ 
To  some  men  beauty  is  an  idol ;  beauty  in  sound  or  form, 
figure  or  colour.  Such  an  idolatry  of  beauty  has  been 
called  '  the  master  passion  of  the  renaissance  in  Italy,' 
bringing,  however,  its  own  punishment  in  '  the  deep  degra- 
dation both  of  art  and  character.'  ^  So  there  are  intellectual, 
economic  and  political  idols,  '  knowledge,'  '  public  opinion,' 
'  liberty,'  '  freedom  of  competition,'  and  the  like.  We  may 
be  reminded  of  Bacon's  famous  enumeration  of  idols  which 
beset  the  human  mind  and  make  it  impervious  to  truth.* 
Nations  are  tempted  to  make  an  idol  of  material  wealth, 
of  armaments,  or  of  military  glory.  ^  Some  put  their  trust 
in  chariots  and  some  in  horses  :  a  sentence  as  true  to-day  as 
when  it  was  first  written  by  the  Psalmist.^  Individual 
men  deliberately  set  before  themselves  pleasure  as  their 
chief  good,  or  even  mere  physical  strength  and  prowess. 
But  perhaps  the  most  striking  example  of  idolatry  in  modern 
times  is  that  individualism  which  the  rapid  expansion  of 


1  Church,  Cathedral  and  University  Sermons,  xii.  p.  156. 

2  Cp.  the  maxim  of  Erasmus  :  '  Aequasti  Christo  pecuniam  si 
ea  te  potest  vel  felicem  vol  infclicem  reddere  '   {Enchiridion,  iv.). 

3  Church,  ubi  supra,  p.  166. 

*  Bacon,  Novum  organon,  bk.  i,  aph.  xxxviii.  foil.  :  '  Idola  et 
notiones  falsae,  quae  intellectum  humanum  jam  occuparunt,  atque 
in  eo  alte  haerent,  .  .  .  mentes  hominum  ita  obsident,  ut  veritati 
aditus  difhcilis  pateat.' 

^  The  word  '  Glory  '  is  said  to  occur  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  Napo- 
leon's despatches. 

8  Ps.  XX.  7.     Cp.  Isa.  ii.  7,  8      Deut.  xvii.  16,  17 


THE  FIRST   COMMANDxMENT  69 

industry  has  tended  to  foster ;  an  individualism  which  in 
its  essence  is  selfishness,  and  in  its  ultimate  social  effects  is 
ruinous  to  national  well-being.  There  are  many  signs  that 
we  are  living  in  the  midst  of  those  '  hard '  or  '  grievous  ' 
times  when  men  are  lovers  of  self,  lovers  of  money.''-  The 
individualism  which  is  nowadays  producing  such  disquieting 
effects  and  directly  paving  the  way  for  such  a  formidable, 
because  ill-considered,  social  reconstruction,  is  no  new 
phenomenon  in  history.  It  is  closely  connected  with  a 
decadent  or  debased  form  of  religion,  Anti-christian  ideas 
bear  fruit  in  anti-social  habits  of  life  and  thought.  So  it 
was  with  ancient  Rome  in  its  decay  ^ ;  so  it  is  in  days  when 
the  thought  of  God  has  largely  disappeared  from  the  minds 
of  men,  and  when  materialistic  habits  of  thought  are  apt 
to  discredit  the  very  existence  of  spiritual  forces  or  altruistic 
motives.  '  We  are  suffering  on  all  sides,'  writes  Bp.  West- 
cott,  '  and  we  know  that  we  are  suffering,  from  a  tyrannical 
individualism.  This  reveals  itself  in  social  life  by  the  pursuit 
of  personal  pleasure ;  in  commercial  life  by  the  admission 
of  the  principle  of  unlimited  competition ;    in  our  theories 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  i,  2.  Bp.  Wilson  in  his  Maxims  writes  : '  There  are 
few  who  have  not  their  idols,  which  their  hearts  adore,  in  which 
they  put  their  trust  and  place  their  happiness.  The  worst  of  all 
is  ourselves  '  [ed.  Relton,  p.  71].  Cp.  the  quaint  exposition  in 
Wycliffe's  adaptation  of  Thoresby's  Catechism :  '  Who  breaks 
the  first  commandment  ?  Proud  men,  worldly  men,  and  fleshly 
men.  Why  proud  men  ?  For  they  make  the  devil  their  god.  Why 
worldly  men  ?  For  they  make  worldly  goods  their  god.  Why 
fleshly  men  ?     For  they  make  their  belly  their  god.' 

2  See  a  powerful  passage  in  Augustine,  de  civitate  Dei,  ii.  20. 
The  close  relation  of  individualism  to  '  naturalistic  '  modes  of  thought 
has  been  pointed  out  by  Eucken.  See  W.  R.  Boyce  Gibson,  R. 
Eiicken's  Philosophy  of  Life,  ch.  3.  Cp.  also  Dr.  Bussell's  statement 
in  his  art.  'Roman  ILra^ive'  m.M.uxra,y's  Illustrated  Bible  Dictionary  : 
'  The  weakness  of  the  Roman  Empire  did  not  lie  in  its  political 
system,  but  in  the  decay  of  its  social  enthusiasms.' 


70'  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

of  life  by  the  acceptance  of  material  standards  of  prosperity 
and  progress.  .  .  .  We  need  to  show  to  the  world  the 
reality  of  spiritual  power.'  ^ 

Against  all  such  types  of  false  worship,  in  other  words, 
against  all  false  ideals,  social  and  religious,  the  first  com- 
mandment bears  a  steadfast  and  abiding  witness.  All  in- 
ordinate attachment  to  that  which  is  not  God  tends  to 
darken  the  understanding,  and  to  take  away  the  power  of 
recognizing  the  divine  presence  in  the  world  and  the  divine 
claim  on  human  life.  A  mora/ darkness  (Rom,  i.  21)  is  the 
consequence  of  unfaithfulness  to  the  teaching  of  Nature  and 
conscience  about  God.  Blindness  to  His  presence  in  the 
world  produces  blindness  to  His  will.^  When  truth  is 
fallen  in  the  street,  uprightness  cannot  enter.  Moreover, 
this  moral  law  finds  its  verification  on  a  large  scale  in  national 
life.  By  setting  up  idols,  material  or  intellectual,  a  people 
is  in  danger  of  forfeiting  the  guidance  of  God  and  so  abandon- 
ing the  only  solid  hope  of  national  progress.  Ephraim  is 
joined  to  idols  ;  let  him  alone.  They  that  regard  lying  vanities 
forsake  their  own  mercy.^ 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  commandment  is  in  its  primary 
aspect  a  summons  to  repentance.  It  exhorts  us  to  relin- 
guish  anything  which  takes  the  place  of  God  in  our  hearts  ; 
which  becomes  the  object  of  our  keenest  desire,  our  most 
ardent  attachment,  our  strongest  confidence.  It  is  a 
caU,  in  the  first  instance,  to  detachment.  The  '  idols  '  which 
attract  us  are  apt  to  vary  at  different  periods  of  life.  But 
at  every  stage  of  life  men  are  in  danger  of  seeking  their 
highest  good  in  something  that  is  not  God.  It  is  owing  to 
their  crushing  sense  of  this  inveterate  tendency  of  human 

'    Social  Aspects  of  ChyistiaHity,  pp.    138  f. 

2  Cp.  Isa.  lix.  2-10,  and  14.  ^  Hosea  iv.   17  ;    Jonah  ii.  3. 


THE   FIRST   COMMANDMENT  71 

nature  that  God's  saints  in  all  ages  have  been  conspicuous 
in  penitence  ;  have  acknowledged  themselves  to  be  the 
chief  of  sinners.  They  have  learned,  sometimes  early, 
sometimes  late  in  life,  how  supremely  worthy  of  the  heart's 
highest  devotion  is  God  ;  how  heinous  is  even  the  least  un- 
faithfulness to  the  light  of  conscience.  We  naturally  think 
in  this  connexion  of  such  a  book  as  St.  Augustine's  Confes- 
sions. He  tells  us  how  he  came  at  last  to  see  sin  in  its  true 
colours,  as  the  attempt  to  find  elsewhere  than  in  God  that 
which  would  satisfy  his  nature  and  bring  him  freedom  and 
peace.  He  points  out  that  all  the  blessings  which  men 
strive  to  secure  by  sin  are  to  be  found  in  their  perfection 
only  in  God.  '  The  soul,'  he  cries, '  seeks  apart  from  Thee 
those  things  which  it  cannot  find  in  their  purity  and  integrity 
save  by  returning  to  Thee.'  ^  This  is  the  great  conviction 
which  sooner  or  later  dawns  upon  the  soul  when  it  sets  itself 
to  seek  God.  True  contrition  is  not  the  beginning  of  con- 
version, but  in  a  sense  its  crown  and  climax,  its  reward  and 
fruit.  Of  a  noble  person  of  strenuous  life  it  was  reported 
to  a  friend,  '  He  is  in  great  trouble  of  conscience.  He  does 
not,  indeed,  charge  himself  with  any  grievous  sin,  but 
bitterly  bewails  his  lack  of  love  to  Almighty  God.' 

It  is  well  that  at  the  outset  of  our  study  of  the  command- 
ments we  should  be  led  to  strike  this  note,  and  to  remind 
ourselves  that  in  proclaiming  the  all-embracing  love  and 
redemptive  grace  of  Him  Who  is  our  Hope  and  Strength,  the 
first  commandment  awakens  in  a  sincere  heart  the  con- 
sciousness of  its  past  waywardness  and  blindness,  the  sense 
of  its  profound  need  of  divine  forgiveness  and  help. 

2.  Repentance  is  a  stage  or  moment  in  the  awakening  of 
faith.     We  may  regard  the  first  commandment  as  anticipat- 

*  Conf.  ii.  6.   13. 


72  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

ing  the  lesson  taught  by  our  Lord  when  He  bids  the  disciples 
Have  faith  in  God.^  If  penitence  consists  in  the  turning  of 
the  soul  from  its  idols,  faith  implies  a  positive  movement 
of  the  soul  towards  God.  The  aspects  of  faith  presented  in 
the  Bible,  and  even  in  particular  portions  of  it  like  a  single 
Pauline  Epistle,  are  many  and  are  widely  different.-  In 
dealing  with  the  first  commandment  we  are  concerned  with 
faith  in  its  relation  to  practical  religion.  Faith  is  unques- 
tionably a  principle  of  knowledge.  It  implies  a  certain 
view  of  the  universe  as  a  whole  :  the  view  that  it  is  a  rational 
and  comprehensible  order,  which  bears  perpetual  witness 
to  the  intelligent  purpose  and  controlling  providence  of  its 
Author.  But  the  faith  here  in  question  is  primarily  a  prin- 
ciple of  conduct ;  a  principle  on  which  the  moral  life  can  be 
built  up,  and  which  imparts  stability  and  permanence  to 
character. 

It  is  a  marked  feature  of  the  Mosaic  legislation  that  Israel 
is  never  suffered  to  forget  the  character  and  claim  of  Jehovah 
as  giving  a  sanction  to  all  ordinances,  of  whatsoever  kind, 
that  regulate  the  life  and  conduct.  The  recurrence  of  the 
phrase  /  am  Jehovah,  inserted  again  and  again  at  intervals 
in  different  series  of  laws,  was  calculated  to  remind  the 
people  that  they  were  in  a  real  sense  consecrated  to  the 
divine  service  ;  that  all  life  was  to  be  lived  as  in  the  presence 
of  God.  There  is  perhaps  a  hint  of  this  in  the  closing  words 
of  the  commandment :  iione  other  gods  before  me,  that  is, 
in  My  presence.^    The  faith  which  hallows  and  solemnizes 

1  Mark  xi.  22. 

2  See  for  instance  Sanday  and  Headlam,  Comm.  on  the  Epistle 
to  ths  Romans,  pp.  33,  34. 

3  Nicolas  de  Lyra  explains  the  words  of  the  Vulg.  coram  mc  : 
'  id  est,  in  nullo  loco  vel  tempore  habebis  [deos  aUenos]  quia  praesens 
sum  omni  tempore  et  loco.' 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  73 

life  is  a  belief  in  the  living  presence  of  God,  belief  in  an 
unseen  Being  Who  tries  and  searches  the  hearts  of  men, 
Who  discerns  and  sifts  their  thoughts  and  passes  judgment 
on  their  deeds.  It  was  only  by  slow  degrees  that  the  Jew 
learned  to  realize  the  reality  of  the  divine  omnipresence. 
In  primitive  times  the  Deity  was  conceived  as  inhabiting  a 
fixed  spot,  or  sojourning  in  an  earthly  tabernacle.  The 
prophets  prepared  the  way  for  more  spiritual  conceptions 
by  dwelling  on  the  immediate  and  direct  intervention  of 
God  in  nature  and  history.  They  overlooked  secondary  in 
their  contemplation  of  primary  causes.  They  looked  on  the 
world  as  God's  world,  and  saw  His  hand  outstretched,  His 
arm  laid  bare,  in  the  judgments  that  fell  upon  the  heathen, 
or  the  acts  of  deliverance  in  which  Israel  rejoiced.  So  the 
Hebrews  gradually  rose  to  the  conception  that  the  God  of 
Israel  was  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  universe,  controlling 
the  restless  movements  of  the  nations,  and  guiding  the 
issues  of  Israel's  history  in  fulfilment  of  His  age-long  purpose 
of  grace.  We  may  say  that  faith,  full  grown,  finds  its  ex- 
pression in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  Thou  art  about  my 
path  and  about  my  bed  and  spiest  out  all  my  ways.'^  The 
Jew  was  not  only  conscious  of  the  sacredness  of  common 
life,  as  the  votary  of  primitive  Roman  religion  might  have 
been ;  he  had  also  a  penetrating  sense  that  he  was  upheld, 
watched  and  judged  by  a  Person  with  Whom  he  might,  if 
he  would,  hold  continual  converse  and  fellowship.  He  felt 
himself  to  be  walking  before  God :  in  the  presence  of  a  spiritual 
Being  Who  knew  what  was  in  him  and  Who  tried  and  tested 
all  his  actions  by  the  standard  of  perfect  righteousness.^ 

1  Ps.  cxxxix.  2. 

2  The  same  belief  is  to  a  great  extent  characteristic  of  the  religion 
of  Islam  :  '  this  recognition  of  a  divine,  personal,  unseen  Sove- 
reignty ;    of  One  Who  is  not  sought  by  men,  but  Who  seeks  men  ; 


74  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Such  is  the  faith  which  the  commandment  requires  and 
which  we  greatly  need  to  recover  in  modern  life.  A  consis- 
tent believer  in  God  can  make  no  rigid  distinction  between 
the  '  secular  '  and  the  divine,  the  tasks  of  earth  and  the 
things  of  heaven.  In  every  transaction  and  every  relation- 
ship he  is  aware  of  God,  conscious  of  His  claim  and  of  His 
purpose,  sensitive  to  His  guidance,  alive  to  the  spiritual 
significance  of  the  duties  and  burdens  which  fall  to  his  lot. 
With  an  eye  spiritually  enlightened  he  finds  everywhere 
in  the  visible  world  glimpses  of  a  hidden  glory,  tokens  of 
compassion,  and  parables  of  judgment.  He  discerns  in  his 
fellow-men  the  lineaments  of  Christ  Himself.  He  looks  at 
the  social  condition  of  his  country  in  the  light  of  God's 
revealed  will,  and  steadily  resists  the  tendency  which  besets 
the  modern  mind  either  to  regard  commercial  and  industrial 
transactions  as  lying  outside  the  sphere  of  religion,  or  to 
lose  in  the  absorbing  pursuit  of  pleasure  or  wealth  the  sense 
of  accountability  to  a  living  and  present  God. 

There  is  a  suggestive  prayer  in  Bishop  Wilson's  Sacya 
Privata  which  implies  that  even  professing  Christians  are 
in  danger  of  falling  into  practical  atheism.  '  O  God,  look 
mercifully  down  upon  this  Church,  in  which  I  serve  at  Thine 
altar ;  purge  all  its  members  from  all  atheism,  heresy, 
schism  and  profaneness.'  ^  Forgetfulness  of  God  is  no 
imaginary  peril  amid  the  engrossing  pursuits  and  activities 
of  a  highly  organized  civilization.  The  hurry  and  pressure 
of  city  life :  the  incessant  struggle  for  subsistence :  the  pursuit 
of  comfort :  the  spirit  of  materialism  in  a  hundred  forms — 
these  shut  out  the  thought  of  God.  The  first  commandment 
recalls  to  us  the  fact  of  His  personal  presence  among  men. 

Who  calls  them,  and  chooses  them  to  do  His  work,'  etc.     F.  D. 
Maurice,   The  Religions  of  the  World,  146. 
*  Cp.  Westcott,  The  Historic  Faith,  p.  41. 


THE   FIRST  COMMANDMENT  75 

It  deepens  in  us  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility.  It 
chastens  the  temper  of  self-complacency.  It  was  the  secret 
of  that  '  tremendous  seriousness '  which  men  noted  in 
Bishop  Butler ;  of  that  calm  intrepidity  in  peril  which  has 
distinguished  Christian  soldiers,  statesmen  and  missionaries  ; 
of  that  steadfast  patience  which  has  sustained  great  social 
reformers  and  defenders  of  the  faith  in  their  conflict  with 
the  perversity  or  apathy  of  their  contemporaries.  The 
man  of  faith  passes  through  life  overshadowed  by  the  thought 
of  God:  looking  to  Him,  leaning  on  Him,  communing  with 
Him :  continually  sustained  by  the  vision  of  Him  Who  is  at 
once  the  righteous  Ruler  and  Judge  of  the  world,  and  the 
Source  of  all  grace  and  moral  power  to  individual  souls. 

3.  The  first  commandment,  as  interpreted  by  our  Lord, 
is  also  a  call  to  devotion.  Thou  shall  have  none  olher  gods. 
Thou  shall  love  Ihe  Lord  Ihy  God  imth  all  Ihy  hearl,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  In  a  real  sense,  therefore, 
the  first  commandment  contains  in  brief  the  whole  of  moral- 
ity, for  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  ;  and  the  true  love  of 
God  necessarily  inspires  the  love  of  man.*  The  problem 
of  practical  morality  is  that  of  keeping  alive  the  spirit  of 
love,  of  perpetuating  the  self-dedication  of  heart  and  will 
to  the  service  of  God.  With  purpose  of  heart  to  cleave  unto 
the  Lord^:  this  is  the  sum  of  religion.  For  the  'heart,' 
according  to  the  usage  of  Scripture,  is  a  comprehensive 
term  including  all  human  faculties.  It  is  the  seat  of  feeling, 
of  thought,  but  above  all  of  will.^  Love  is  no  mere  emotion 
or  sentiment :  it  is  an  attitude  of  the  entire  personality,  a 
character,  a  fixed  habit  of  self-surrender  and  self-com- 
munication.    To    '  have '    God    implies    a    relationship    of 

^  I   John  iv.  20.  2  Acts  xi.  23. 

3  Cp.  Sanday  and  Headlam  on  Rom.  i.  21. 


76  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

mutual  and  spontaneous  self-giving  :    He  that  dwelleth  in 
love  dwelleth  in  God  and  God  in  him.'^ 

Ill 

Accordingly,  the  all-embracing  duty  inculcated  by  the 
first  commandment  is  that  of  responding  to  the  call,  the 
purpose,  and  the  manifested  love  of  God.  If  '  true  devotion 
consists  in  having  our  hearts  always  devoted  to  God,  as  the 
sole  Fountain  of  all  happiness,'  *  the  chief  aim  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  is  to  kindle  and  to  maintain  the  spirit  of  devotion. 

Some  means  to  this  end  may  be  briefly  considered. 

I.  Devotion  is  kindled  by  recollection  of  God's  loving- 
kindness,  which  finds  utterance  in  thanksgiving.  It  is  very 
striking  that  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  from  which  our 
Lord  derives  His  exposition  of  the  great  and  first  command- 
ment (Deut.  vi.  4,  5),  has  as  its  keynote  the  word '  remember,' 
Remember  what  the  Lord  did  to  Pharaoh.  Remember  that  thou 
wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  Remember  all  the  way 
the  Lord  led  thee,  etc.  The  secret  of  gratitude  is  fre- 
quent contemplation  of  the  mercies  and  blessings  which 
God  has  bestowed.  The  duty  of  thanksgiving  is  repeatedly 
enjoined  by  St.  Paul ;  and  indeed  it  is  a  very  important, 
though  perhaps  much  neglected,  part  of  practical  religion. 
William  Law  even  goes  so  far  as  to  say :  '  Would  you  know 
who  is  the  greatest  saint  in  the  world  ?  It  is  not  he  who 
prays  most  or  fasts  most ;  it  is  not  he  who  gives  most  alms 
or  is  most  eminent  for  temperance,  chastity  or  justice  ;  but 
it  is  he  who  is  always  thankful  to  God  ;  .  .  .  who  receives 
everything  as  an  instance  of  God's  goodness,  and  has  a  heart 
always  ready  to  praise  God  for  it.'  '  The  sin  of  the  heathen 
world,  and  the  very  cause  of  its  moral  ruin,  was  unthank- 

1  I  John  iv.   i6. 

2  The  opening  sentence  of  Bishop  Wilson's  Sacra  Privata. 

3  A  Serious  Call,  etc.,  ch.  xv. 


THE   FIRST    COMMANDMENT  ^^ 

fulness :  knowing  God  they  glorified  Him  not  as  God,  neither 
gave  thanks.'^  Just  as  the  preface  to  the  first  command- 
ment was  designed  to  awaken  in  the  devout  IsraeUte  a  thank- 
ful recollection  of  the  debt  he  owed  to  the  gracious  Redeemer 
of  his  race,  so  for  Christians,  recollection  of  the  divine  mercies 
is  an  essential  part  of  piety.  Here  meditation — the  habit 
of  feeding  (as  it  were)  on  Scripture,  and  using  it  simply  as 
the  sustenance  of  the  soul — will  have  its  place.  Indeed,  the 
chief  fruit  of  meditation  is  love,  and  love  pours  itself  out, 
as  we  learn  from  the  Psalter,  in  praise  and  benediction.^ 

2.  Devotion  is  nourished  by  the  spirit  of  detachment,  or 
to  express  it  otherwise,  by  mortification.  Thou  shall  have 
none  other  gods.  We  have,  as  Bishop  Wilson  says,  to  con- 
vince our  hearts  of  '  the  vanity  of  everything  else  to  afford 
us  any  real  help  or  comfort '  ;  for  if  any  man  love  the  world, 
the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him,  and  no  man  can  serve  two 
masters.  The  habitual  recollection  of  God  and  of  His  will 
tends  to  withdraw  the  soul  from  excessive  dependence  on 
earthly  gifts  and  blessings.  By  learning  to  deny  ourselves, 
to  forego  advantages  or  comforts  which  we  might  enjoy  if 
we  would,  to  refrain  from  pleasures  or  pursuits  which 
distract  or  hinder  us  from  the  service  of  God,  we  learn 
the  much-needed  lesson  that 

'  God  alone  can  satisfy  whom  God  alone  created, ' 

and  that  it  is  not  His  gifts  by  which  and  for  which  we  live, 
but  Himself.  He  Himself  is  all  that  the  soul  needs  :  the 
Giver  of  light  and  truth,  of  power  and  peace.^ 

1  Rom.  i.  21. 

2  See  St.  Bernard's  beautiful  language  in  sermones  in  Cantica, 
xi.  and  xiii. 

3  Bern,  in  Cant.  xi.  5  :  '  Nam  qui  replet  in  bonis  desiderium 
animae,  ipse  rationi  futurus  est  plenitudo  lucis,  ipse  voluntati 
multitude  pacis,  ipse  memoriae  continuatio  aeternitatis.     O  Veritas, 


78  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

3.  '  In  order  to  dispose  our  hearts  to  devotion,'  says 
Bishop  Wilson,  '  the  active  Hfe  is  to  be  preferred  to  the 
contemplative.  To  be  doing  good  to  mankind  disposes 
the  soul  most  powerfully  to  devotion.'  We  may  remember 
how  the  apostolic  writer  crowns  his  list  of  Christian  graces, 
each  forming  a  step  to  something  higher  :  Add,  he  says,  to 
godliness  brotherly  kindness,  and  to  brotherly  kindness  love.''- 
Man  learns  to  love  God  by  imitating  Him :  by  showing  forth 
in  daily  life,  according  to  the  measure  of  opportunity,  some 
distant  ray  of  His  discriminating  compassion.  His  tenderness. 
His  kindness  to  man.  The  life  of  active  charity  to  man 
draws  the  soul  continually  nearer  to  Him  Who  is  Love. 

4.  Finally,  the  spirit  of  devotion  is  to  be  sought  through 
prayer,  for  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  bestowed  in  response  to  the 
earnest  desire  of  man.  The  hunger  and  thirst  of  the  soul 
after  righteousness,  the  longing  for  union  with  God,  is  satis- 
fied by  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  the  Heavenly  Father 
gives  to  them  that  ask  Him.^  Only  when  we  are  filled  with 
the  Spirit  can  we  fulfil  the  law  of  our  nature  as  it  is  em- 
bodied in  the  first  commandment ;  only  so  do  we  respond 
to  His  redemptive  purpose  for  us,  and  our  hearts  become 
the  dwelling  place  of  God.  For  this,  and  nothing  less,  is 
the  ultimate  meaning  of  the  phrase  '  thou  shalt  have  none 
other  god.' 

In  a  short  treatise  on  '  the  life  of  blessedness  '  {de  beata 
vita),  St.  Augustine  gives  an  account  of  a  dialogue  concerning 
the  question  '  Who  is  it  that  hath  God  ?  '  Three  answers 
are  given,  but  none  of  them  are  entirely  satisfactory.  All 
the  disputants  agree  that '  he  who  hath  God  is  truly  blessed,' 

caritas,  aeternitas  !  O  beata  et  beatificans  Trinitas  !  ad  te  mea 
misera  trinitas  miserabiliter  suspirat.  quoniam  a  Te  infeliciter 
exsulat.' 

1  2  Pet.  i.  7  (A.V.).  2  Luke  xi.   13. 


THE   FIRST   COMMANDMENT  79 

but  they  differ  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  expression  '  hath 
God.'  We  perhaps  find  a  clue  to  the  answer  in  the  thought 
that  rehgion  is  a  hfe  of  personal  relationships.  He  may  be 
said  to  '  have  '  God  who  cleaves  to  Him  with  every  faculty 
of  His  personality  :  reason,  affection,  will.  The  Gentiles,  St. 
Paul  says,  refused  to  have  God  in  their  knowledge.^  Their 
reasoning  faculty  was  unfaithful  to  the  light  and  became 
darkened  and  perverted.  So  affection  may  be  misdirected  : 
//  any  man  love  the  world  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.^ 
The  will  also  may  be  enlisted  in  the  service  of  two  masters, 
and  this  (as  our  Lord  expressly  taught  us)  is  fatal  to  spiritual 
progress.  Moral  decision  is  what  Christ  requires  of  His 
followers ;  His  appeal  is  always  to  the  will.  God  is  the 
reward  of  a  whole-hearted  self-surrender,  a  prize  to  be  laid 
hold  of  with  all  the  energies  of  man's  being.  To  '  have ' 
God  is  to  live  in  entire  dependence  on  Him,  and  to  direct 
towards  Him  every  faculty  we  possess ;  to  adhere  to  Him 
with  undivided  heart ;  to  embrace  Him  as  the  one  and  all- 
sufficient  good  of  the  soul.  The  sense  of  thus  possessing 
God  is  a  spring  of  moral  power.  It  enables  the  soul  to  say 
'  I  ought  to  do  the  will  of  God  and  I  can,  because  I  have 
God  in  me  and  with  me.'  So  as  St.  Cyril  tersely  observes: 
'  Sufficient  for  the  life  of  godliness  will  be  this  alone,  the 
knowledge  that  we  have  God :  the  one  God,  the  true  God, 
the  eternal  God.'  ^ 

Mihi  autem  adhaerere  Deo  bonum  est :  ponere  in  Domino 
Deo  spem  meam* 

1  Rom.  i.  28.  2  I  John  ii.   15. 

3  Cyril    of    Jerusalem,    Catecheses    illuminandorum ,    vi.    7.     Cp. 
Phil.  iv.   13. 

*  Ps.  Ixxiii.  27  (Vulg.). 


II 

'  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  a  graven  image,  nor  the  Hkeness 
of  any  form  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth  :  thou  shalt  not  bow  down 
thyself  unto  them,  nor  serve  them  :  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a 
jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children, 
upon  the  third  and  upon  the  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate 
Me ;  and  shewing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  Me 
and  keep  My  commandments." 


CHAPTER    IV 
THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT 

THE  first  commandment  may  be  regarded  broadly  as  a 
rule  for  the  heart.  The  second  seems  to  be  a  rule  for 
the  thoughts.  It  forms  a  kind  of  natural  supplement  or 
corollary  to  the  first,  since  it  teaches  that  the  one  God  Who 
claims  the  undivided  allegiance  of  His  reasonable  creatures 
is  also  a  spiritual  Being  Who,  as  He  cannot  be  replaced  by 
any  created  thing,  so  cannot  be  adequately  represented  by 
any  material  image  or  likeness. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  use  of  images  in  worship  seems 
to  mark  a  stage  of  degeneration  in  primitive  rehgion.  The 
second  commandment  is  not  a  mere  '  positive '  precept 
delivered  to  a  particular  people  at  a  special  moment  in  its 
religious  history.  It  seems  rather  to  be  a  part  of  the  Law 
of  Nature,  as  we  might  infer  from  St.  Paul's  argument  in 
Acts  xvii.  29  :  Being  then  the  offspring  of  God  {as  certain  even 
of  your  own  poets  have  said),  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the 
Godhead  is  like  unto  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone,  graven  by  art  and 
device  of  man.  There  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that 
the  introduction  of  images  marked  a  comparatively  ad- 
vanced stage  in  the  history  of  religion.  According  to  some 
authorities,  images  were  unknown  in  the  earliest  period  of 
Roman  religion,  and  the  same  appears  to  be  certainly  true 
of   other   ancient   nations:     Persia,    Egypt,    and   Greece. ^ 

^  Aug.  de  civ.  Dei,  iv.  31,  quotes  Varro  as  declaring :  '  antiques 
Romanes  plus  annos  centum  et  septuaginta  decs  sine  simulacro 

H 


82  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

'  Men  did  not  begin,'  says  Professor  Robertson  Smith,  '  by 
worshipping  emblems  of  divine  powers,  they  brought  their 
homage  and  offerings  to  the  god  himself.'  Certainly  in  the 
ancient  Semitic  religion  the  god  was  regarded  as  inhabiting 
a  sacred  stone  or  tree.  It  was  only  with  some  advance  in 
religious  speculation  that  it  became  customary  to  represent 
the  deity  in  a  human  or  even  in  an  animal  form.*  But 
idolatry,  once  established  as  an  element  in  worship,  took 
very  deep  and  strong  root.  In  Israel,  as  we  may  gather 
from  its  chequered  history,  the  tendency  to  idolatry  was 
astonishingly  persistent,  and  was  not  finally  eradicated  even 
by  the  discipline  of  exile  in  Babylon.  It  would  appear, 
however,  that  the  use  of  images  in  worship  was  finally  dis- 
carded when  Israel  became,  as  the  result  of  restoration  to 
its  own  land,  no  longer  a  nation  but  a  church.  It  might 
perhaps  be  said  that  in  post-exilic  times  idolatry  rather 
changed  its  form  than  entirely  disappeared.  False  and 
distorted  notions  of  God's  character  and  requirement 
gradually  usurped  in  men's  minds  the  place  of  God  Himself  ; 
and  in  the  tragic  crisis  of  Israel's  history  we  see  the  fatal 
consequences  of  a  perverted  religion.  The  blindness  which 
led  to  the  rejection  of  the  Messiah  was  the  result  of  idolatry, 
if  not  in  a  literal,  at  least  in  a  spiritual  sense.  Our  Lord 
spoke  of  His  contemporaries  as  an  adulterous  and  sinful 
generation.^  Their  attitude  towards  Himself  was  evidence 
of  inward  apostasy  from  God.     The  legalism  of  the  Scribes 

coluisse.'  Cp.  W.  Warde  Fowler,  The  Religious  Experience  of 
the  Roman  People,  p.  146.  See  also  a  summary  of  facts  and  autho- 
rities in  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  s.v.  '  Idolatr}-.'  Tacitus,  Germ. 
ix.,  says  of  the  German  tribes :  '  Ceterum  nee  cohibere  parietibus 
deos  neque  in  ullam  humani  oris  speciem  assimilare  ex  magnitudine 
caelestium  arbitrantur.' 

1  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.   194. 

2  Mark  viii.  38  (with  Dr.  Swete's  note,  ad  he). 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT  83 

and  Pharisees  was  in  effect  an  idolatry  of  the  Law.  They 
sought  not  the  glory  of  God,  but  the  triumph  of  the  Law 
and  of  the  Law's  religion.  Their  ideal  for  Israel  was  not 
so  much  that  it  should  be  a  people  of  God  as  a  people  of  the 
Law.i 

For  the  Christian  Church,  the  prohibition  contained  in 
this  precept  assumes  a  different  aspect  in  view  of  the  fact 
f^f  the  Incarnation.  During  the  first  three  or  four  centuries 
of  its  existence  the  Church  made  little  use  either  of  sculpture 
or  painting  as  an  aid  to  worship.  There  were  no  doubt 
symbolic  representations  of  the  Saviour  in  the  catacombs 
and  primitive  churches,  depicting  Him  as  the  Lamb  or  the 
Good  Shepherd.  Other  symbols  of  the  Faith  were  cus- 
tomary, such  as  a  ship  at  anchor,  or  a  dove  (emblem  of  the 
Holy  Spirit) ,  or  a  fish,  mystically  representing  by  its  Greek 
equivalent  (t'x^v?)  the  titles  of  Christ.  There  was  also  the 
figure  of  the  '  Orante  '  ('  praying  one  '),  which  was  painted 
on  some  Christian  sepulchres,  and  which  seems  to  be  a  sym- 
bol of  the  soul  of  the  departed.  A  marked  change  took 
place  when  the  worship  of  the  catacombs  yielded  to  that 
of  the  early  hasilicae.  The  triumph  of  the  Church  gave  an 
impulse  to  the  art  of  painting ;  subjects  taken  from  the 
Apocalypse  and  other  parts  of  Scripture  replaced  the  rude 
and  simple  representations  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  pic- 
tures of  saints  and  martyrs  began  to  find  a  place  in  the 
Churches— objects  which  seem  soon  to  have  occasioned 
some  measure  of  superstitious  veneration.* 

*  Cp.  Schurer,  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  |  28. 

2  St.  Augustine,  de  mor.  eccl.  cathoL,  75,  speaks  severely  '  Novi 
multos  esse  sepulchorum  et  picturarum  adoratores.'  Of  these  and 
others  who  discredit  the  Christian  name  he  says :  '  quos  et  ipsa 
ecclesia  condemnat  et  quos  quotidie  tanquam  malos  fihos  corrigere 
studet  '   {ih.  76). 


§4  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

The  introduction  of  images  in  some  places  followed,  and 
gave  rise  (as  might  have  been  expected)  to  serious  practical 
abuses.  The  veneration  of  them  seems  to  have  become 
common  during  the  fifth  century.  Miraculous  powers  were 
ascribed  to  them,  reverence  for  them  quickly  ran  to  extra- 
vagant lengths.  Accordingly,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  John 
Damascene  [d.  about  760)  wrote  a  defence  of  image-worship 
on  doctrinal  grounds,  the  practice  was  looked  upon  with 
disfavour  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  and 
various  Eastern  emperors  took  measures  to  suppress  it. 
The  Synod  of  Constantinople  (754)  prohibited  the  adoration 
of  images,  but  thirty  years  later  the  Second  Council  of 
Nicaea  (787)  pronounced  in  favour  of  it.  A  distinction 
was  made  between  worship  (Xarpeia),  due  only  to  God, 
and  veneration  or  salutation  {irpoa-Kvviia-L^  TCfXTjTt/o]  or 
daTrao-fjbO'i).  '  He  who  venerates  the  image,' says  the  decree 
of  the  Council,  '  venerates  the  personality  of  Him  Who  is 
represented  therein.'  In  the  West,  however,  image- worship 
only  gained  tardy  recognition.  Charlemagne  caused  a  refu- 
tation of  the  decrees  of  the  Second  Nicene  Council  to  be 
drawn  up,  and  the  Synod  of  Frankfort  (794),  attended  by 
Galilean,  German,  and  possibly  some  English  bishops,  con- 
demned the  adoration  of  images.  But  the  influence  of 
Rome  supported  the  decisions  of  the  Greek  Synod,  ^  and 
though  for  some  two/ centuries  image- worship  was  rejected 
in  the  empire  of  the  Franks,  the  Roman  view  finally  pre- 
vailed. Thomas  Aquinas  follows  the  lead  of  John  Damas- 
cene, ^  and  a  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  embodies  the 
official  decision  of  the  Roman  Church,  It  allows  the  use 
in  churches  of  images  of  Christ,  the  Virgin  and  the  Saints, 

1  The  pope  Hadrian  I  wrote  an  epistle  to  Charlemagne  replying 
to  the  libri  Carolini.  See  Gieseler,  Eccles.  History,  vol.  2,  p.  267 
[E.  T.].  2  Sumnia  iii.  25.  art.  3. 


THE  SECOND   COMMANDMENT  85 

and  commands  that  they  be  duly  honoured,  '  not  because 
we  believe  that  they  have  any  intrinsic  divinity  or  virtue 
for  which  they  should  be  worshipped,  or  that  petitions 
should  be  addressed  to  them,  or  that  such  confidence  should 
be  placed  in  them  as  that  wherewith  the  heathen  regarded 
their  idols,  but  because  the  veneration  paid  to  them  is 
directed  to  the  originals  (prototypa)  which  they  represent.'  ^ 
This  corresponds  exactly  to  the  teaching  of  John  Damas- 
cene ;  but  though  innocuous  in  itself,  the  cult  of  images 
opened  the  door  to  manifold  popular  superstitions.  Nor 
can  we  escape  the  conviction  that  when  the  desolating  flood 
of  Mohammedan  conquest  swept  across  the  provinces  of 
the  Eastern  Empire,  the  Church  of  the  East  to  a  great  extent 
brought  upon  itself  the  calamities  which  overwhelmed  it. 
'  The  sense  of  a  divine  Almighty  Will,  to  which  all  human 
wills  were  to  be  bowed,  had  evaporated  amidst  the  worship 
of  images,  amidst  moral  corruptions,  philosophical  theories, 
religious  controversies.' ' 


The  sin  against  which  the  commandment  is  directed  is 
one  of  which  idolatry  in  its  literal  sense  is  only  a  symptom, 
namely,  that  of  dishonouring  Almighty  God  by  low  and 
unworthy  conceptions  of  Him.  The  idolatry  of  the  heathen 
was  only  excusable  in  so  far  as  it  was  due  to  ignorance.^ 
Even  while  he  allows  this,  however,  St.  Paul  plainly 
indicates  that  the  obUgation  to  think  worthily  of  the  Deity 

^  Sess.  XXV. 

2  F.  D.  Maurice,  The  Religions  of  the  World,  p.  23  ;  Warde 
Fowler,  Religious  Experience  of  the  Roman  People,  p.  174,  remarks 
that  the  use  of  images  in  worship  necessarily  tends  to  diminish 
religio — the  sense  of  awe — in  approaching  the  Deity. 

3  Acts  xvii.  30. 


86  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

is  a  dictate  of  natural  law,  recognizable  from  the  beginning 
by  the  light  of  reason  itself.  We  ought  not  to  think  amiss 
in  the  matter  because  we  are,  and  know  by  nature  that  we 
are,  the  offspring  of  God.* 

Unworthy  conceptions  of  Deity  may,  speaking  broadly, 
be  regarded  as  taking  one  of  two  forms.  On  the  one  hand, 
it  is  possible  to  deny  His  power :  to  represent  God  as  subject 
to  limitations  and  defects,  which  either  remove  Him  from 
the  sphere  of  human  knowledge  (Agnosticism)  or  virtually 
banish  Him  from  the  universe  which  He  has  created  (Deism) . 
Either  of  these  views  implies  in  effect  a  denial  of  the  revealed 
fact  that  God  is  spirit ;  that  personality,  as  well  divine  as 
human,  is  a  fact  of  the  spiritual  order  ;  and  that  the  material 
universe  is  subject  to  the  control  of  spirit  and  tends  towards 
the  fulfilment  of  a  rational  and  moral  purpose.  In  the  last 
resort  the  denial  of  the  possibility  of  miracle  seems  to  be 
based  on  an  inadequate  and  unworthy  conception  of  God. 
If  God  is  spiritual  and  personal.  He  is  free  not  only  to  reveal 
Himself  to  man,  but  also  to  manifest  His  will  and  character 
by  intervening  in  the  world,  by  actively  controlling  the 
course  of  history  in  the  interests  of  a  purpose  of  grace.  The 
power  that  is  at  work  in  the  universe,  directing  its  progress 
and  sustaining  its  operations,  is  to  be  interpreted  by  that 
with  which,  as  personal  beings,  we  are  most  familiar :  the 
moral  power  of  wiU.^  We  do  infinite  wrong  to  God  when 
we  fail  to  interpret  His  nature  and  mode  of  action  by  that 
which  is  highest  within  our  sphere  of  observation — the 
phenomena  of  human  will  and  personahty. 

*  Acts  xvii.  29. 

*  Cp.  Bruce,  Apologetics,  p.  160.  Cp.  the  vague  use  of  the  Latin 
word  Numen  (from  nuo,  a,s  flumen  iromfluo),  '  a  being  who  exercises 
will-power,'  '  manifests  will.'  Sec  Warde  Fowler,  The  Religious 
Experience  of  the  Roman  People,  p.   118  foil. 


THE  SECOND   COMMANDMENT  87 

A  more  common  error,  perhaps,  than  the  denial  of  the 
divine  power  is  misconception  of  the  divine  character.  The 
Psaknist  reproaches  the  sinner  who,  deceived  by  the  solemn 
*  silence  of  God,'  thinks  wickedly  that  He  is  such  a  one  as 
the  sinner  himself.^  But  something  of  the  same  self-deceit 
occasionally  lingers  even  among  professing  Christians.  The 
Pantheistic  mode  of  thought,  which  exaggerates  and  dis- 
torts the  mystery  of  the  divine  immanence,  tends  towards 
a  denial  of  all  moral  distinctions,  and  represents  evil  and 
good  alike  as  manifestations  of  the  divine  in  human  nature. 
It  implies  that  God  is  indifferent  to  the  moral  quality  of 
actions,  and  that  free-will  in  man  is  an  illusion. 

But  professed  adherents  of  Pantheism  are  not  now  in 
question.  We  are  thinking  rather  of  those  who  conceive 
of  God  in  accordance,  not  with  what  is  highest,  but  with 
what  is  weakest  and  faultiest  in  human  nature ;  who  (as 
John  Smith  says)  '  converse  not  with  the  goodness  of  God, 
and  therefore  are  apt  to  attribute  their  impotent  passions 
and  peevishness  of  spirit  to  Him.'  ^  Superstition  is  defined 
by  the  same  writer  as  follows :  '  Such  an  apprehension  of  God 
in  the  thoughts  of  men  as  renders  Him  grievous  and  burden- 
some to  them.'  As  such  an  idea  of  God  springs  from  ignor- 
ance, so  it  bears  fruit  in  a  vain  form  of  worship — '  a  forced 
and  jejune  devotion,  void  of  inward  life  and  power.'  ^  It 
is,  in  fact,  a  form  of  idolatry.  '  They  imagine,'  says  St. 
Bernard,  '  that  He  Who  is  kind  to  man  is  harsh  and  severe  ; 
that  He  Who  is  pitiful  is  merciless  and  implacable ;  that 
He  Who  is  altogether  worthy  to  be  loved  is  cruel  and 
terrible.  Thus  does  iniquity  lie  to  itself,  fashioning  for 
itself  an  idol.' 


1  Ps.  1.  21.  2  Select  Discourses,  '  Of  Superstition,'  p.  27. 

*  Ibid.  36.     Cp.  Bern,  in  Cant,  xxxviii.  2. 


88  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

It  is  needless  to  illustrate  at  length  the  different  ways  in 
which  men  are  apt  to  cherish  unworthy  notions  of  God. 

The  Swiss  theologian,  Francis  Turretin,  devotes  a  large 
part  of  his  exposition  of  the  first  two  commandments  to  a 
polemical  discussion  of  the  cidtus  of  the  saints,  which  in  his 
day  was  the  occasion  of  so  many  abuses  and  superstitions. 
We  need  not  follow  him  in  this,  but  it  may  be  well  to  remind 
ourselves  that  there  are  obvious  dangers  in  a  practice  which 
is  certainly  not  warranted  by  any  passage  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  which  has  a  tendency  to  impair  the  absolute  con- 
fidence and  trustfulness  with  which  Christ  would  have  us 
approach  our  heavenly  Father— looking  to  Him  as  One 
Who  alone  can  perfectly  understand  us,  and  alone  can  supply 
the  unfathomable  needs,  bodily  and  spiritual,  of  the  nature 
which  He  has  made.^  Without  condemning  a  practice 
which  many  devout  persons  have  found  helpful  to  their 
spiritual  life,  we  may  yet  hold  that  there  is  a  more  excellent 
way  into  which  our  Lord  Himself  has  guided  us  ;  that  the 
most  loving  and  trustful  thoughts  of  God  are  the  truest, 
and  that  the  very  name  '  Father  '  is  a  pledge  of  His  willing- 
ness to  be  all  in  all  to  those  whom  He  deigns  to  call  His 
beloved  children} 

II 

Two  positive  duties  seem  to  be  implied  in  the  second 
commandment. 

1  Turretin,  Inst.  Theol.  Elenct.,  loc.  xi,  '  De  Lege  Dei,'  quaest. 
vii.  §  12  :  '  Invocatio  sanctorum  nee  habet  praeceptum,  nee  pro- 
missum,  nee  exemplum  in  Scriptura,  quo  nitatur,  adeoque  nihil 
aliud  est  quam  iO^XoOprja-Keia,  .  .  .  Urgetur  quidem  passim  invo- 
catio Dei,  sed  nusquam  mcntio  fit  invocationis  creaturarum,'  etc. 
See  the  question  examined  in  Andrewes,  Two  Answers  to  Cardinal 
Perron. 

2  Eph.  V.   I. 


'the   SliCOND   COMMANDMENT  89 

I.  First,  the  duty  of  holy  fear.  The  second  and  the  third 
commandments  differ  from  the  rest  in  so  far  as  each  contains 
not  merely  a  prohibition,  but  a  warning.  It  may  be  that 
in  respect  of  these  particular  precepts  mankind  is  specially 
prone  to  offend.  ^  This  may  explain  the  solemn  mention 
in  the  commandment  of  the  divine  jealousy,  and  of  the 
judgments  wherewith  God  '  visits  '  those  who  '  hate  Him,' 
that  is,  who  persist  in  doing  the  evil  which  He  hates.  The 
'  jealousy  '  of  Jehovah  is  the  counterpart  of  His  loving- 
kindness.  The  tie  which  united  Him  to  Israel  was  a  relation- 
ship of  love,  often  represented  in  pre-exilic  prophecy  under 
the  image  of  a  marriage-bond.  God's  tenderness  to  His 
people  has  been  that  of  a  husband  to  a  wayward  and  erring 
wife.  The  ascription  to  Him  of  '  jealousy  '  corresponds  to 
this  kind  of  imagery.  Jehovah  is  unwilling  to  endure  the 
dominance  of  a  rival  deity  in  the  affections  of  His  chosen. 
There  is  a  trace  of  this  older  idea  of  the  divine  jealousy  in 
St.  Paul's  protest  against  the  attempt  of  nominal  Christians 
to  combine  the  worship  of  the  true  God  with  participation 
in  heathen  sacrificial  rites  :  Do  we  provoke  the  Lord  to 
jealousy  ?  are  we  stronger  than  He  ?  ^ 

The  '  jealousy  '  of  God  is  the  direct  consequence  of  the 
relationship  in  which  He  stands  to  the  souls  which  He  has 
made  exclusively  for  Himself.  He  claims  an  entire  and  un- 
divided allegiance.  He  cannot  witness  unmoved  the  failure 
of  His  purpose.  He  cannot  tolerate  in  any  soul  that  aver- 
sion from  Himself  which  is  its  spiritual  death.  The  judg- 
ments which  descend  upon  nations  and  individuals  are 
divinely  intended  to  recall  them  to  the  recollection  of  God 

1  So  T.  Aquinas  suggests  :    Summa,  i.  ii*.  100.  7  ad  4. 

2  I  Cor.  X.  22.  Nic.  de  Lyra  says  :  '  Hoc  modo  dicitur  Deus 
zelotes  quia  non  vult  quod  homo  fomicetur  cum  diis  alienis  per 
idololatriam.' 


90  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

and  of  His  righteous  claim  on  all  life.  The  tremendous 
disciphne  to  which  Israel  itself  was  subjected  is  in  itself  a 
crucial  instance  of  the  way  in  which  that  claim  vindicates 
itself.  Whatever  happened  to  God's  ancient  people  befell 
them,  as  we  know,  by  way  of  example,  and  was  written  for 
our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  ages  are  come.^ 
The  experience  of  the  Hebrew  people  signally  illustrates 
that  '  exquisite  justice  '  with  which  Almighty  God  visits 
national  as  well  as  personal  sin.  The  generations  of  men 
are  knit  together,  and  the  consequences  of  wrongdoing 
slowly  but  surely  come  to  maturity.  The  sins  of  the  fathers 
are  visited  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion? In  Israel's  case  the  judgment  which  the  nation  in- 
curred by  its  apostasy  and  idolatry  actually  fell  upon  a 
generation  which  had  earnestly  set  itself  to  seek  Jehovah. 
The  sins  of  Manasseh  were  expiated  by  the  subjects  of 
Josiah  and  his  successors.  As  the  Jewish  proverb  expressed 
it.  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth 
are  set  on  edge?  As  a  doctrine  this  adage  was  difficult  to 
understand,  but  as  the  statement  of  a  fact  it  could  not  be 
gainsaid.  History  has  verified  it  again  and  again.  Forget- 
fulness  of  God  at  one  period  of  a  nation's  history  issues 
in  neglect  or  violation  of  social  righteousness  which  ulti- 
mately bears  fruit  in  revolution,  in  national  weakness  and 
disaster,  in  the  overthrow  of  dynasties  and  the  decline  of 
empires. 

There  are  many  causes  at  work  which  tend  to  the  decay 
of  godly  fear.     Of  our  time,  as  of  his  own.  Bishop  Butler 

1  I  Cor.  X.  II. 

*  Perhaps  (as  Nic.  de  Lyra  and  Hugo  de  S.  Victore  suggest) 
'  quia  usque  ad  tot  geuerationes  vident  aliquando  mali  pucros  ex 
•is  exeuntes.' 

3  Ezek.  xviii.  2. 


THE   SECOND   COMMANDI^IENT  91 

might  well  have  said :  '  There  is  in  this  age  a  certain  fear- 
lessness.' The  seeming  stability  of  our  civilization  has  been 
a  snare :  (how  wise  are  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  Because 
they  have  no  changes  therefore  they  fear  not  God  *)  ;  and 
materialism  has  become  the  practical  creed  of  multitudes 
in  every  class  of  European  society.  The  disappearance  of 
the  sense  of  sin,  and  its  consequence,  the  waning  of  religion , 
is  due  to  forgetfulness  of  God  and  of  His  judgments.  The 
mutual  suspicion  and  contempt  that  embitters  the  relations 
between  labour  and  capital ;  the  absence  of  the  sense  of 
responsibility  for  others  ;  the  low  ideals  of  life  which  pervade 
every  class — all  these  have  their  root  in  forgetfulness  of 
God.  The  thought  of  God,  of  His  kingdom,  of  His  righteous 
will,  of  His  exact  justice,  must  again  become  a  restraining 
and  an  inspiring  force  in  human  life  if  modern  civilization 
is  to  be  stable  and  progressive.  There  is,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  a  practical  atheism  which  acknowledges  with  lip- 
service  the  existence  and  the  claim  of  God,  but  in  works 
denies  Him  :  in  matters  of  everyday  business  ignores  His 
will :    and  in  personal  behaviour  dishonours  His  name. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  duty  of  holy  fear  is  based  upon 
the  truth  of  the  divine  Fatherhood.  It  is  because  we  call 
upon  Him  as  Father,  Who  without  respect  of  persons  judgeth 
according  to  every  man's  work,  that  we  are  to  pass  the  time 
of  our  sojourning  in  fear.^  God  is  the  Heavenly  Father  of 
men,  but  also  the  righteous  and  merciful  Judge  of  all,  mani- 
festing His  mercy  in  the  very  fact  that  He  rewardeth  every 

*  Ps.  Iv.  19  (A. v.).  See  Dr.  Kay's  comment :' Their  theory  that 
all  things  continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  (2  Pet.  iii.  4) 
seems  confirmed  by  their  own  experience.  They  have  had  on« 
unvarying  stream  of  prosperity  which  appears  to  them  to  be  entirely 
independent  off  any  personal  Ruler  of  the  world.' 

2  I  Pet.  i.   17. 


92  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

man  according  to  His  work.^  He  loves  men  with  an  impartial 
love,  and  wilfully  to  offend  Him  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
a  justly  offended  Father.  True  strength  of  character  can 
spring  from  no  other  root  than  this  sacred  dread  of  all  offence, 
this  *  bowed  apprehension  of  His  majesty  '  which  is  the 
mark  of  His  children.  Nor  can  any  one  who  loves  his  coun- 
try watch  without  deep  anxiety  that  gradual  disappearance 
of  the  thought  of  God  which  lies  at  the  root  of  our  manifold 
social  evils.  What  is  lacking  in  our  generation,  in  spite  of 
its  high  level  of  intellectual  ability,  its  gifts  of  culture,  its 
easy  tolerance  and  its  capacity  for  refined  pleasure,  is  the 
seriousness  which  springs  from  a  just  sense  of  the  greatness 
of  God,  the  awfulness  of  life  and  its  possibilities,  the  inexor- 
able sternness  of  the  claim  of  Christ.  Life  can  only  be 
strenuous  and  fruitful,  in  proportion  as  it  is  overshadowed 
and  solemnized  by  the  fear  of  God, 

One  example  is  worth  many  precepts,  and  may  fitly  illus- 
trate the  temper  which  the  second  commandment  seems  to 
enjoin.  Of  the  late  John  Bright  it  was  written  by  one  who 
knew  him  intimately  :  '  There  was  a  noble  austerity  in 
him,  .  .  .  the  result,  I  think,  in  part  of  a  noble  moral 
austerity  in  his  conception  of  God.  The  reverence  with 
which  it  was  his  habit  to  speak  of  God  was  very  impressive. 
It  was  apparent  that  he  had  known  the  fear — the  fear  in 
which  there  is  no  terror,  and  which  instead  of  paralysing 
the  soul,  nerves  it  to  the  highest  exertion  of  its  moral  energy 
and  to  the  most  courageous  endurance — the  fear  which  has 
filled  the  hearts  of  prophets  and  saints  when  in  solitary 
hours  they  have  seen  the  glory  of  God  and  have  learnt  that 
God  is  always  near.  To  him  God  was  infinitely  great  and 
august ;    the  will  of  God  was  one  with  the  eternal  law  of 

»  Ps,  Ixii,   12  (P.B.). 


THE   SECOND   COMMANDMENT  93 

righteousness,  commanding  obedience  and  submission, 
whatever  may  be  the  cost :  not  to  be  resisted,  not  to  be 
forgotten,  either  by  individual  men  or  nations,  except  at 
their  infinite  peril.'  ^ 

The  second  commandment  has  a  special  message  for  an 
age  in  which  men  are  seldom  kindled  to  fiery  moral  passion 
of  any  kind.  It  makes  mention  of  that  attribute  in  Almighty 
God  which  the  modern  mind  finds  it  difficult  to  realize  : 
hatred  of  evil,  wrath  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungod- 
liness and  unrighteousness  of  nien.^  The  deepest  and  most 
enduring  element  in  the  divine  nature  is  lovingkindness. 
He  sheweth  mercy  unto  thousands  of  thejn  that  love  Him  and 
keep  His  commandments.^  But  the  wrath  of  God  is  a  tre- 
mendous reality,  manifested  from  time  to  time  in  the  events 
of  human  history  ;  in  the  case  of  His  chosen  who  go  astray 
from  Him  through  weakness  or  error,  it  is  the  heat  of  jealousy 
— of  outraged  love  ;  in  the  case  of  them  that  hate  Him — 
who  refuse  to  have  God  in  their  knowledge — it  is  a  fierceness 
of  fire  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries.  We  need  to  seek 
grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear,  for  this  very  reason  that  our  God  is  a  consuming 
fire.* 

2.  The  other  great  moral  duty  implied  in  the  second 
commandment  is  that  of  honouring  God  with  a  worship 
worthy  of  His  nature  :  a  worship  offered  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.    The  words  remind  us  that  worship  has  two  aspects. 

^  The  late  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  in  Contemporary  Review  for  May,  1889. 
Cp.  the  same  writer's  book  The  Atonement,  pp.  339-342,  and  J.  H. 
Newman,  Parochial  and  Plain  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  no.  23. 

2  Rom.  i.   18. 

3  Grotius  :  '  In  millia,  ostendens  quanto  fit  in  benefaciendo 
Deus  quam  in  puniendo  largior.'  Barrow  :  '  By  a  vast  proportion 
the  expressions  of  God's  mercy  do  exceed  those  of  justice.' 

*  Heb.  X.  27  ;    xii.  28,  29  ;    cp.  Deut.  iv.  24. 


94  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

On  the  one  hand  it  is  an  act  of  self-expression,  or  self-obla- 
tion, an  uplifting  of  all  our  faculties  heavenward  in  order 
that  with  our  entire  personality  we  may  hold  communion 
with  the  Father.  On  the  other  hand,  acceptable  worship 
implies  a  clear  and  vivid  conception  of  its  object.  It  must 
respond  to  the  actual  self-revelation  of  God.  Christian 
worship  in  the  strict  sense  is  that  which  recognizes  in  Jesus 
Christ  a  complete  and  satisfying  manifestation  of  Deity. 
Accordingly  it  has  its  outward  form  and  expression,  inas- 
much as  the  Lord  of  Glory  Himself  was  manifested  in  flesh, 
and  used  material  things  as  the  veil  and  vehicle  of  spiritual 
gifts.  The  Church  is  the  embodiment  upon  earth  of  the 
risen  Saviour,  and  its  worship  must  needs  express  and  repre- 
sent what  He  is  :  He  in  Whom  body  and  spirit  are  bound 
together  in  perfect  and  endless  unity,  and  find  their  joint 
consecration.^ 

Worship  is  the  concentration  of  all  human  faculties  on 
God.  It  is  spiritual  in  so  far  as  the  spirit  in  man — that 
which  constitutes  the  central  element  in  his  personality, 
that  by  which  he  holds  communion  with  his  Creator — pre- 
sents and  uplifts  all  the  different  elements  of  his  nature  to 
God  :  reason,  memory,  affection  and  desire.  It  was  through 
His  eternal  spirit  that  the  Holy  One  of  God  offered  Himself 
without  blemish  to  God.^  It  is  the  spirit  which  is,  so  to  speak, 
the  high  priest  of  man's  oblation,  the  spirit  which  devotes 
itself  to  the  divine  service,  the  spirit  which  responds  to  the 
will  of  God.  Thus  the  essential  act  of  worship  belongs  to 
the  will,  to  the  central  self,  the  spirit,  identifying  itself 
wholly  and  gladly  with  the  will  of  God,  and  laying  at  His 
feet  all  the  elements  of  its  being.     Adoration,  penitence, 

*  Cp.  Milligan,  The  HesurreQtion  of  Our  Lord,  p.  214. 

*  Heb.  ix.   i^, 


THE   SECOND   COMMANDMENT  95 

devotion — these  imply  the  surrender  of  the  inmost  self  to 
God.  '  Here  we  offer  and  present  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  our- 
selves, our  souls  and  bodies,  to  be  a  reasonable,  holy  and 
lively  sacrifice  unto  Thee.'  ^ 

But  worship  cannot  be  independent  of  outward  form, 
for  we  have  bodies  as  well  as  spirits,  and  perfect  worship 
implies  the  dedication  to  God  of  every  part  of  our  complex 
nature.  To  Christ  the  Body  was  the  instrument  of  a  dedi- 
cated spirit,  a  filial  will ;  and  the  Incarnation  has  for  ever 
consecrated  the  employment  of  material  and  visible  things 
for  spiritual  purposes.  The  body  has  its  part  to  take  in 
worship,  and  the  soul  may  well  require  outward  helps  to 
kindle  and  sustain  its  love,  praise  and  adoration.  Whatever 
ministers  to  the  spirit  of  worship  through  an  appeal  to  the 
senses  ;  whatever  stirs  and  elevates  the  heart  or  enables 
the  mind  to  realize  heavenly  realities,  is  to  be  gladly  wel- 
comed and  used.  The  true  spirituality  of  worship  is  cer- 
tainly not  secured  by  entire  bareness,  or  by  absence  of  sym- 
bolism. But  the  history  of  the  Church  is  full  of  warnings 
that  aesthetic  aids  to  worship  may  be  perverted  or  abused. 
Worship  is  apt  to  be  materialized  by  over-elaboration  of 
its  outward  side,  and  the  sense  of  beauty  must  not  be 
appealed  to  at  the  expense  of  higher  and  nobler  faculties. 
The  test  of  all  ceremonies  or  symbols  is  the  degree  in  which 
they  n:inister  effectively  to  the  central  purpose  of  worship, — 
the  dedication  of  self  to  God.     In  other  words,  the  test  is 


1  Cp.  Lactantius,  de  vero  cultu,  vi.  :  '  Hie  verus  est  cultus  in 
quo  mens  colentis  seipsam  Deo  immaculatam  victimam  sistit.' 
Also  Card.  Franzelin :  '  Obligatio  cultus  interni  continetur  in  ipsa 
essentiali  relatione  creaturae  rationalis  ad  Deum.  Nititur  totus 
cultus  divinus  tanquam  fundament©  in  religiosa  intellectus  agnitione 
et  voluntatis  suhmissione  erga  Deum  '  (quoted  by  Gold,  Sacrificial 
Worship,  p.  2). 

H 


96  THE   RULE  OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

'  edification.'  '  Men  are  edified,'  says  Hooker,  '  when  either 
their  understanding  is  taught  somewhat  whereof  in  such 
actions  it  behoveth  all  men  to  consider,  or  when  their  hearts 
are  moved  with  any  affection  suitable  thereunto ;  when 
their  minds  are  in  any  sort  stirred  up  unto  that  reverence, 
devotion,  attention  and  due  regard,  which  in  those  cases 
seemeth  requisite.'  ^  We  are  to  judge  of  all  aids  to  devotion 
according  as  they  help  or  hinder  the  power  of  holding  com- 
munion with  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Experience  seems 
to  teach  us  that  the  accessories  of  worship,  if  they  absorb 
too  much  thought  and  attention,  are  apt  to  make  worship 
itself  barren  and  mechanical,  and  even  to  choke  the  spirit 
of  prayer ;  and  it  is  perhaps  true  that  one  test  of  spiritual 
advance  is  a  growing  independence  of  external  aids  to 
devotion.     As  Whittier  sings  : — 

No  picture  to  my  aid  I  call, 

I  shape  no  image  in  my  prayer ; 
I  only  know  in  Him  is  all 

Of  life  and  beauty  everywhere, 

Eternal  goodness  here  and  there  ! 

I  know  Ke  is  and  what  He  is. 

Whose  one  great  purpose  is  the  good 

Of  all.     I  rest  my  soul  on  His 
Immortal  Love  and  Fatherhood, 
And  trust  Him  as  His  children  should. 

For  worship  is  not  so  much  an  occasional  or  isolated  act 
as  an  habitual  temper  or  spirit.  It  is  the  free  and  spontane- 
ous self-dedication  of  living  men  to  the  service  of  the  living 
God  Who,  because  He  is  spirit,  is  everywhere  present  and 
in  all  His  ways  and  works  to  be  adored.  This  reflection 
should  lead  us  to  move  among  His  creatures  in  the  spirit  of 
worshippers.     The  thought    of  His  providence  invests  all 

1  Eccl.  Pol.  iv.    I.   3. 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT  97 

things,  however  trivial,  with  a  certain  interest  and  signifi- 
cance. Reverence  for  nature,  for  animal  life,  above  all  for 
humanity,  is  implied  in  the  spirit  of  worship.  '  God  dwells 
in  every  human  being,'  says  William  Channing,  in  his  noble 
discourse  on  '  Worship,'  '  more  intimately  than  in  the  out- 
ward creation.  The  voice  of  God  comes  to  us  in  the  ocean, 
the  thunder,  the  whirlwind  ;  but  how  much  more  of  God  is 
there  in  His  inward  voice,  in  the  intuitions  of  reason,  in  the 
rebukes  of  conscience,  in  the  whispers  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
I  would  have  you  see  God  in  the  awful  mountain  and  the 
tranquil  valley  ;  but  more,  much  more,  in  the  clear  judg- 
ment, the  moral  energy,  the  disinterested  purpose,  the 
pious  gratitude,  the  immortal  hope  of  a  good  man.  Go 
forth  from  this  house  to  worship  God  by  reverencing  the 
human  soul  as  His  chosen  sanctuary.'  Channing  proceeds 
to  remind  his  hearers  that  the  highest  worship  ever  offered 
on  earth  was  that  of  Christ  Himself.  He  worshipped  God 
in  the  perfect  sense  of  the  word  when  He  stooped  to  be 
amongst  men  a<?  one  that  serveth ;  when  He  ministered  by 
deeds  of  mercy  to  their  needs  ,  when  He  taught  them  their 
true  dignity  as  children  of  God  ;  when  He  toiled  and  suffered 
to  bring  them  heahng  and  help  ;  when  He  offered  Himself, 
His  entire  humanity,  without  blemish  and  with  perfect 
devotion,  to  His  heavenly  Father. 


Ill 

'  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain  ; 
for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  His  name  in 
vain.' 


CHAPTER    V 
THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT 

THE  teaching  of  the  first  two  commandments  virtually 
comprises  that  of  the  whole  Decalogue.  The  fulfil- 
ment of  duty  to  our  neighbour  is  included  in  that  of  duty 
to  God ;  for  the  great  and  first  commandment  is  love,  and 
love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  To  '  have  '  God — to  possess 
Him  in  any  vital  sense — implies  obedience  to  His  will  and 
imitation  of  His  impartial  lovingkindness  towards  man. 

As  the  first  commandment  makes  mention  of  the  redemp- 
tive grace  of  God,  and  bases  upon  it  the  law  of  devotion 
or  love  ;  as  the  second  recalls  His  jealousy.  His  exclusive 
claim,  and  so  inculcates  the  duty  of  holy  fear  ;  so  the  third 
forbids  any  profane  or  careless  use  of  His  Name.  It  contains, 
in  a  word,  the  law  of  reverence.  The  Name  of  God  means 
the  self-revelation  of  the  divine  essence.  In  this  sense  it 
was  solemnly  proclaimed  to  Moses.  ^  Nobis,  says  Tertul- 
lian,  in  Filio  revelatum  est.  The  Incarnation  brought  God 
near  to  man,  and  in  so  doing  hallowed  all  common  duties, 
all  material  things,  all  human  relationships.  Thy  name 
also  is  so  nigh,  and  that  do  Thy  wondrous  wotks  declare.'^ 
The  sense  of  mystery  must  needs  check  the  confidence  with 
which  we  speak  of  the  ways  and  words  and  works  of  God. 
Glib  and  shallow  expositions  of  truth,  unreal  professions, 
unmeaning   promises,    the   lip-service   of   mechanical   and 

*  Exod.  xxxiv.  6.  2  pg.  Ixxv.  2  (P.B.). 

99 


100  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

formal  worship^ — all  these  at  once  occur  to  us  as  implying 
dishonour  to  the  Name  of  God.  For  the  literal  meaning  of 
the  precept  seems  to  be  '  Thou  shalt  not  take  up  '  (or  '  upon 
thy  lips  ')  '  the  Name  of  Jehovah  thy  God  for  vanity.'  ^ 
Probably  this  prohibits  in  the  first  instance  false  swearing, 
i.e.  calling  upon  God  as  witness  to  a  falsehood.*  But  it 
certainly  includes  also  the  use  of  the  divine  Name  for  any 
idle,  frivolous  or  insincere  purpose.'^  As  the  Name  of  God 
corresponds  to  the  supreme  Reality  {to  6prco<;  6v)  and  is 
the  revelation  of  Him  that  is  true,  so  the  commandment 
seems  further  to  imply  the  duty  of  truthfulness.  We  must, 
as  Philo  says,  in  the  first  instance  so  speak  the  truth  that 
our  words  may  be  regarded  as  equivalent  to  our  oath  ;  and 
in  the  next  place  faithfully  observe  an  oath  when  made. 
Truthfulness  in  speech  is  the  outcome  and  symbol  of 
reverence  in  spirit. 

The  sacredness  of  speech  follows,  in  fact,  from  the  sacred- 
ness  of  Christian  life.  We  are  struck  in  reading  the  Apos- 
tolic writings  by  the  lofty  language  employed  to  describe 
the  status  of  Christians  who  have  been  brought  near  to  God 
by  the  Blood  of  Christ.  They  dwell,  and  are  enthroned 
with  Christ,  in  heavenly  places.  They  are  come  unto  Mount 
Zion  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 
They  live  and  move  and  have  their  being  in  Christ.  Their 
bodies  are  temples  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  live  under  the 
shcidow  of  the  throne  of  God,  watched  and  guided  by  His 
eye,  knit  together  in  a  divine  society.  They  are  called  to 
be  saints,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling,  citizens  of  a  heavenly 
State.     Already  the  servants  of  God  tread  the  golden  streets 


1  €7rt  fiaraiw,  LXX.  et9  flKrj  (temere),  Aquila. 

2  So  Philo.     Cp.  Lev.  xix.   12. 
'  See  Driver,  on  Exodus  xx.  7. 


THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT  loi 

of  the  new  Jerusalem  and  walk  in  the  light  of  the  glory  of 
God.*  For  Christian  believers  the  whole  of  life  is  solemnized 
by  the  recollection  of  God,  not  as  an  absent  Ruler,  but  as  a 
living  Presence  besetting  them  behind  and  before,  searching 
their  hearts,  and  judging  all  their  ways.  They  are  called 
to  walk  with  the  sincerity,  the  seriousness,  the  tranquillity, 
the  trustfulness,  of  those  who  realize  that  they  live  beneath 
the  eye  of  God.^ 

The  gi't  of  speech,  then,  has  a  sacred  function  to  fulfil 
in  human  life,  and  is  to  be  controlled  by  a  constant  sense 
of  accountibility  to  One  Who  is  the  unseen  Witness  of  the 
words  and  deeds  of  men. 

Further,  we  may  recall  the  mysterious  title  given  to  our 
Lord  by  St  John.  The  title  '  Logos,'  '  Word,'  has  a  long 
history,  and  is  charged  with  far-reaching  associations.  But 
for  the  ordinary  Christian  its  significance  seems  simple  :  in 
Christ  the  Word,  God  '  spake'  to  man,  uttered  His  thought, 
manifested  His  mind  and  will,  and  in  so  doing  fulfilled  His 
age-long  promises.  The  Word  was  made  flesh  in  order  to 
manifest  the  truth  of  God  ^ ;  in  Him,  how  many  soever  he  the 
promises  of  God,  in  Him  is  the  yea.*'  In  Him  God  reveals 
Himself  as  faithful,  shows  Himself  true  to  His  promise  and 
His  purpose.  It  is  significant  that  St.  Paul  in  defending 
himself  from  a  charge  of  fickleness  and  inconsistency  reminds 
the  Corinthians  that  anything  like  double  dealing  is  morally 
impossible  for  one  who  is  commissioned  to  proclaim  the 
faithfulness  of  God.     God  is  true  and  Christians  are  in  Him 

^  See  Milligan,  The  Book  of  Revelation  (in  The  Expositor's  Bible), 

PP-  373-4- 

2  Cyprian,  de  oral.  Dominica,  4  :  '  Sciamus  Deum  ubique  esse 
praesentem,  audire  omnes  et  videre  et  maiestatis  suae  plenitudine 
in  abdita  quoque  et  occulta  penetrare.  .  .  .  Deus  non  vocis,  sed 
cordis  auditor  est.' 

3  See  Rom.  xv.  8.  *  2  Cor.  i.   18. 


102  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

that  is  true.  They  are  called,  therefore,  to  keep  in  viev  the 
constancy  of  the  divine  character,  reflected  aUke  in  the  uni- 
form order  of  nature  and  in  the  mysteries  of  grace.  Our 
power  of  speech  is  sacred  because,  in  a  certain  rnanner 
and  degree,  it  has  its  eternal  counterpart  in  Almighty  God. 
Just  as  the  divine  Word  reveals  the  very  nature  of  God,  so 
human  speech  must  reveal  the  real  thought  of  the  heart.  It 
must  be  sincere :  not  merely  unmeaning,  trivial,  idle  and  vain.* 
We  are  naturally  led  at  this  point  to  consider  oar  Lord's 
own  expansion  of  the  third  commandment  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  and  elsewhere.^  We  notice  how  He  enjoins 
directness  and  simplicity  in  speech.  Let  your  speech  he 
Yea  yea,  Nay  nay,  and  whatsoever  is  more  than  these  is  of 
the  evil  one:  is  the  outcome,  in  other  words,  of  the  sinfulness 
which  impels  people  to  make  stubborn  and  violent  asser- 
tions ;  arises  from  anger,  irritability,  insincerity,  corruptness 
or  distortion  of  mind.  So  again  Christ  tells  u  s  that  every 
idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof 
in  the  day  of  judgment.  He  condemns  all  purposeless  and 
unprofitable  speech,  what  St.  Paul  calls  corruft  (or,  rotten) 
communication,  which  can  serve  no  purpose,  nor  in  any 
way  edify  the  hearer^:  the  use  of  speech  which  is  without 
grace,  or  salt,  or  fruitfulness.  The  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament  is  to  the  effect  that  speech  and  action  alike  are 
to  become  more  and  more  full  of  purpose,  edifying  others 
as  need  may  require.     The  good  man  will  endeavour  to  guide 

^  Augustine,  serm.  ix.,  '  de  decern  chordis  '  explains  '  in  vanum 
accipere  Nomen  Dei  '  as  meaning  '  creaturam  putare  Filium  Dei, 
quia  omnia  creatura  vanitati  subjecta  est.'  Elsewhere  he  takes 
the  first  three  commandments  as  referring  to  Father  (i  and  2), 
Son  (3)  and  Holy  Ghost  (4).     {Ep.  Iv.  ad  Januarium,  20.) 

2  Matt.  V.   33-37;    xii.  35  foil.;    xv.   11. 

'  Eph.  iv.  29.     Cp.  Col.  iv.  6. 


THE   THIRD   COMMANDMENT  103 

his  words  with  discretion,^  not  neglecting  the  grace  of  refine- 
ment, kindliness,  wit  and  humour,  as  occasion  may  require 
or  suggest,  but  bringing  forth  in  all  his  utterance  good  things 
out  of  his  good  treasure ;  and  never  omitting  in  his  use  of 
speech  the  salt  by  which  it  should  be  seasoned — the  stead- 
fast desire  and  intention  of  doing  good. 

We  may  consider  some  practical  duties  connected  with 
the  use  of  speech  and  suggested  by  the  commandment. 

I.  There  is,  of  course,  such  a  thing  as  the  right  use  of  an 
oath,  though,  as  Augustine  points  out,  it  is  a  necessary  con- 
cession to  human  infirmity  and  is  not  in  itself  good  or  desir- 
able.^ An  oath  is  in  its  simplest  aspect  a  mode  of  acknow- 
ledging the  truth  of  God's  omnipresence  ;  a  way  of  declaring 
that  what  we  say,  we  utter  with  a  solemn  consciousness 
that  He  hears  us,  and  that  our  word  may  be  accepted  as 
true  in  His  sight.^  The  object  of  an  oath  is  to  banish  un- 
truth, but  in  an  ideal,  that  is  a  perfectly  Christian  com- 
munity, simple  speech  ought  to  suffice.  Quakers  and  others 
who  object  to  taking  the  oath  in  a  court  of  justice  are  right 
in  principle.  Our  Lord  expressly  says,  Swear  not  at  all.  But 
He  Himself  submitted  on  one  momentous  occasion  to  being 
put  upon  His  oath,  and  Christians  could  not  consistently 
decline  to  do  that  which,  as  things  actually  are,  promotes 
the  end  of  justice  and  testifies  to  the  supreme  importance 
of  truth.  The  primary  aim  of  the  commandment  is  to 
prohibit  perjury,  a  dangerous  crime  which  there  are  some 
reasons  for  believing  to  be  now  more  frequent  in  England 
than  was  formerly  the  case.^     The  righteous  employment 

^  Ps.  cxil.  5  :  OLKOVofji-^cra  tous  Xoyovs  avrov  iv  Kpiaei.  LXX. 
(The  Heb.  seems  to  mean  :  '  Will  direct,  or  sustain,  his  affairs  with 
equity.') 

2  Aug.  de  serm.  in  monte,  i.   17. 

3  Aug.  loc.  cit.  :    '  Jurat  qui  adhibet  testem  Deum. 

*  Among    the    Jews    the    taking    of    an    oath    was    a    rehgious 


104  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

of  the  oath  is  well  described  by  Jeremiah  in  the  words :  Thou 
shall  swear,  As  the  Lord  liveth,  in  truth,  in  judgment  and  in 
righteousness.^  It  serves  a  great  and  important  social 
purpose,  but  it  is  essentially  an  act  of  homage  rendered 
to  Almighty  God  Himself.^ 

What  our  Lord  seems  to  censure  in  St.  Matthew  xxiii. 
i6  foil,  is  the  false  reverence  which  is  content  with  unreal 
distinctions  and  subterfuges,  h  perfect  reverence  would 
suggest  the  complete  abstention  from  oaths,  as  He  implies 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (v.  34). ^  Inasmuch  as  men 
live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being  in  Him  Who  is  true, 
they  need  to  be  reminded  that  truthfulness  is  a  duty  they 
owe  not  so  much  to  their  neighbours  and  to  human  society 
at  large,  as  to  God  Himself.  '  They  that  lie,'  says  an  ancient 
writer,  '  defraud  the  Lord.'  That  nature  which  has  God 
for  its  end  and  law  is  under  an  obligation  to  abide  in  the 
truth  and  by  sincerity  in  speech  and  action  to  reflect  the 
simplicity  of  Him  in  Whose  image  man  is  made.  A  beau- 
tiful prayer  in  the  Nestorian  Liturgy  contains  words  which 
illustrate  this  truth  : — 

'  The  tongues  that  have  cried  Holy  :    do  Thou  dispose  to  speak 
truth. 
The  feet  that  have  walked  within  the  church  :   make  them  to 
walk  in  the  land  of  light.' 


act.      See  Deut.  vi.  13  ;    x.  20.     Their  dread  of  taking  the  Name 
(Lev.    xxiv.    11)   upon  their  lips    was    a    safeguard    of    reverence. 
Grotius  refers  to  the  belief  ainong  the  heathen   that  God   specially 
punished   perjury.      See  such   passages    as    Hesiod,    Opera,    280  ;• 
Hdtus.   vi.  86  (the  story  of  Glaucus)  ;    TibuU.  Eleg.  i.  3.  4. 

1  Jer.  iv.  z  (contrast  v.  2). 

2  '  It  expresseth  the  pious  persuasion  we  have  concerning  God's 
chief  attributes  and  prerogatives  ;  of  His  omnipresence  and  omni- 
science, extending  to  the  knowledge  of  our  most  inward  thoughts 
and  secret  purposes.'     Barrow. 

3  Cp.  Prof.  A.  G.  Hogg.  Christ's  Message  of  the  Kingdom,  p.  140. 


THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT  105 

It  is  by  trustworthiness  and  fidelity  in  word  and  deed 
that  human  character  reflects  the  persistence,  and  depend- 
ableness  of  the  divine  nature.  In  the  Old  Testament  God 
is  often  described  as  the  Rock.  He  deals  with  men  by  rule 
and  measure — by  the  standard  of  His  own  perfect  righteous- 
ness. He  requites  them  according  to  their  deeds ;  He 
fulfils  exactly  both  His  threats  and  His  promises ;  He  is 
ever  true  to  the  character  which  He  has  already  mani- 
fested in  history.  Hence  trustworthiness  is  a  vital  element 
in  human  virtue  ;  and  we  realize  how  unworthy  of  a  con- 
sistent Christian  is  breach  of  faith,  rashness  to  make  and 
failure  to  fulfil  promises  and  engagements,  facile  assent 
out  of  politeness  or  some  less  worthy  motive  to  what  is 
said  by  others — what  the  Romans  called  assentatio.^ 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  need  of  governing  the 
tongue.^  St.  James  speaks  as  if  the  use  of  the  faculty  of 
speech  was  the  great  school  of  self-control.^  Bishop  Butler 
says  that  what  St.  James  has  in  mind  is  mere  talkativeness, 
'  a  disposition  to  be  talking  with  very  little  or  no  regard  to, 
or  thought  of  doing,  either  good  or  harm.'  Accordingly 
we  may  think  that  the  third  commandment  implicitly 
prohibits  all  misuse  of  speech :  exaggeration,  boasting, 
murmuring,  heedless  condemnation  of  persons  or  actions, 
every  wrong  form  of  self-assertion,  every  breach  of 
charity. 

2.  As  to  profane  swearing  it  is  needless  to  say  more  than 
a  word.  It  is  a  sadly  common  offence  in  England,  even 
among  children.  At  one  time  it  was  more  characteristic 
of  the  rich  and  well-to-do  than  it  probably  is  nowadays. 

1  Turretin  :  '  Fidem  servare  est  actus  veritatis,  justitiae  et 
fidelitatis,'  etc. 

*  See  especially  Bp.  Butler's  Sermons,  No.  iv.,  on  this  subject 
'  Jas.  iii. 


io6  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Dr.  Dale  attributes  this  to  a  change  of  taste  and  opinion 
in  society  itself,  and  he  justly  observes  that  there  is  some- 
thing appalling  in  the  thought '  that  we  have  a  greater  dread 
of  violating  the  conventional  maxims  of  good  society  than 
of  transgressing  the  laws  of  God.  When  profanity  was 
only  a  sin  against  God,  it  was  a  common  offence ;  it  has 
disappeared  since  it  became  vulgar.'  ^  Akin  to  profane 
swearing  is  foul,  unclean  speech,  filthy  communication,  as 
St.  Paul  calls  it.  This  is  always  and  everywhere  hateful, 
and  there  is  nothing  which  is  capable  of  making  hfe  such 
a  hell  upon  earth.  The  tongue,  says  St.  James,  is  a  fire. 
Many  are  the  victims  of  the  loose  and  foul  talk  that  goes 
on  in  workshops,  mess-rooms  of  ships,  smoking-rooms  of 
clubs  and  country  houses,  common  lodging-houses.  The 
pollution  of  memory  and  imagination  dates  with  some 
from  the  days  of  boyhood,  and  bears  fruit  in  life-long 
defilement  of  imagination  and  memory.  This,  again,  is 
a  vice  characteristic  of  the  heathen  th^ai  know  not  God.  It 
springs  from  forgetfulness  of  God's  all-seeing  eye,  pene- 
trating those  recesses  of  the  heart  from  which  such  evils 
spring,  and  in  which  they  must  be  overcome.^  A  want  of 
reverence  gives  birth  to  all  those  sins  of  the  tongue  men- 
tioned by  St.  Paul  in  Ephesians  v.  4.  Even  a  limited 
experience  of  life  serves  to  teach  us  how  incalculable  is 
the  moral  havoc  wrought  by  them  :  how  much  wood  is 
kindled  by  how  small  a  fire  !  ^  Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that 
reverence  is  due  to  the  image  of  God  in  man.  Plato  anti- 
cipated Juvenal's  great  saying  when  he  pointed  out  that 
the  young  could  only  be  taught  reverence  if  elders  were 
careful  to  show  their  respect  for  the  young  by  studiously 

»  The  Ten  Commandment!^ ,  pp.  71,  72.  2  Mark  vii.  21. 

3  Jas.  iii.  5. 


THE  THIRD   COMMANDMENT  107 

guarding  them  from  the    sight   or    hearing  of  anything 
shameful.  1 

3,  Two  other  ways  in  which  this  commandment  is  often 
broken  may  be  noticed.  The  duty  it  inculcates  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  of  reverence.  It  accordingly  seems  to 
regulate  our  entire  behaviour  in  regard  to  what  is  sacred  : 
God's  Name,  His  written  Word,  His  Church,  His  appointed 
ministers.  His  holy  day,  His  ordinances  of  worship,  His 
sacraments.  Hence  arises  the  need  of  restraining  the  habit 
of  speaking  lightly  or  in  jest  of  things  sacred  and  venerable. 
Nothing  is  more  common  than  the  misuse  of  Scripture — 
light  quotation  of  its  language  or  allusion  to  its  contents. 
Nothing  is  more  certain  to  destroy  the  spirit  of  reverence. 
Indeed,  a  profane  jest,  heard  or  repeated,  often  clings  to  the 
memory  for  life.  In  the  present  day  there  is  urgent  need 
to  quicken  in  men's  minds,  or  to  restore  if  lost,  a  serious 
regard  for  Holy  Scripture.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  Bible 
is  a  greatly  neglected  book,  and  by  some  is  even  supposed 
to  be  antiquated  and  discredited  by  the  advance  of  modern 
knowledge  and  criticism.  It  is  much  easier  to  criticize 
the  Bible  than  to  do  it  justice.  The  record  of  revelation 
is  wide  as  the  universe  and  deep  as  the  divine  counsels 
and  purposes.^  It  is  related  of  Savonarola  that  by  force 
of  long  study  of  the  Bible  he  had  ceased  to  regard  it  as  a 
book.  '  It  was  a  world  ;  a  living,  speaking,  infinite  world 
in  which  the  past,  present  and  future  were  all  revealed  to 
him.'     His  own  advice  to  students  of  Scripture  was  that 

1  Juv.  Sat.  xiv.  47  :  '  Maxima  debetur  puero  reverentia,'  with 
J.  E.  B.  Mayor's  note. 

2  Aug.  de  utilitate  credendi,  iv.  well  says  :  '  Sunt  ibi  quaedam 
quae  subofiendant  animos  ignaros  et  negligentes  sui.  .  .  Popu- 
lariter  accusari  possunt :  defendi  autem  populariter  propter  mysteria 
quae  his  continentur,  non  a  multis  admodum  possunt.' 


io8  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

they  should  prepare  themselves  for  study  of  the  Word 
by  purity  of  heart,  by  long  practice  of  charity,  by  raising 
their  thoughts  above  earthly  things  ;  '  for  we  may  not  com- 
prehend this  book  by  the  intellect  alone,  but  must  also 
bring  our  heart  and  soul  to  the  task.  Thus  only  can  we 
enter  without  peril  into  this  infinite  world  of  the  holy 
Scriptures  and  obtain  the  light  needed  for  our  salvation.'  ^ 
4.  Another  form  of  sin  against  the  third  commandment 
is  the  habit  of  unrestrained  criticism.  '  We  take  God's 
name  in  vain  assuredly  when  we  scoff  at  anything  which 
either  is  good  or  tries  to  be  ;  when  we  sit  and  criticize  those 
who  are  labouring  to  make  the  world  better,  when  we 
laugh  at  their  failures  and  misrepresent  their  motives. 
There  is  a  growing  habit  of  sneering  at  imperfection,  of 
cheapening  the  moral  currency  by  exposing  the  inconsis- 
tencies of  the  good.  ...  It  sits  in  that  worst  of  all  seats 
that  a  man  can  occupy — the  seat  of  the  scornful.'-  In 
an  age  of  widespread,  but  very  defective,  education,  the 
faculty  of  criticism  naturally  and  rightly  receives  a  great 
impetus  ;  but  wisdom  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  and  is 
essentially  a  moral  rather  than  an  intellectual  quality.  It 
implies  a  certain  character — a  state  of  the  heart  and  will. 
It  is  the  outcome  of  a  right  life,  and  its  judgments  are 
according  to  the  inner  truth,  not  the  external  appearance, 
of  things.  Hence  it  is  what  St.  James  describes  it  to  be 
pure,  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  he  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and 
good  fruits.^  It  is  tender  to  ignorance,  and  alive  to  the 
pathos  of  human  strivings  and  failures.  It  has  learned 
gentleness  through  personal  experience  of  the  stress  and 
strain  of  moral  conflict ;    it  takes  account  of  opportunities 


1  Villari.  Life  of  Savonarola  [Eng.  tr.]  vol.  i.,   1 18-120. 

2  R.  Eyton,   The  Ten  Commandments,  p.  51.  '  Jas.  iii.   17. 


THE  THIRD   COMMANDMENT  109 

and  tendencies.  It  recognizes  the  irony  of  circumstance : 
the  Hmitations  of  even  the  noblest  and  strongest  character : 
the  disparity  between  intention  and  fulfilment,  purpose 
and  performance.  It  has  learnt  the  meaning  of  the  apos- 
tolic precept.  Honour  all  men.^  Our  Lord  was  careful  to 
respect  the  personality  of  men,  and  by  treating  them  as 
moral  and  spiritual  beings  taught  them  self-reverence. 
He  taught  them  that  they  were  God's  children,  and  treated 
them  as  His  brethren.  He  made  friends  even  of  the  out- 
cast and  sinful.  He  spoke  of  the  fickle  and  thoughtless 
multitudes  always  with  compassion,  never  with  disdain. 
'  Towards  no  human  being  does  He  shew  contempt.'  ^  He 
taught  by  example  and  precept  the  supreme  place  of  merci- 
fulness in  human  perfection ;  and  His  most  solemn  warn- 
ings are  addressed  to  those  who  made  their  own  standard 
of  conduct  the  measure  by  which  they  judged  their  fellow- 
men  ;  who  trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous 
and  set  all  others  at  nought.^ 

The  third  commandment,  like  the  second,  closes  with  a 
warning,  in  view  of  the  wide  prevalence  among  men  of 
sins  of  speech.  The  tongue  can  no  man  tame,  says  St.  James. 
Who  is  he,  asks  the  Hebrew  sage,  that  hath  not  offended  with 
his  tongue  ?  *  Our  Lord  traces  the  evil  to  its  source  when 
He  says :  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh. 
From  within,  out  of  the  heart  proceed  .  .  .  railing,  pride, 
foolishness.^  He  thus  warns  men  to  be  watchful  against 
anger,  vanity,  discontent,  uncleanness,  division  of  mind, 
which  bear  such  baneful  fruit  in  sins  of  speech.  He  seems 
also  to  remind  us  both  by  precept  and  example  of  the  virtue 

1  I   Pet.  ii.   17. 

2  Latham,  Pastor  Pastorum,  p.  204.  •  Luke  xviii.  9. 
*  Ecclus.  xix.   16. 

^  Matt.  xii.  34  ;    Luke  vi.  45  ;    Mark  vii.  22. 


no  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

of  silence.  Bishop  Butler,  alluding  to  the  text,  '  There  is 
a  time  to  speak  and  a  time  to  keep  silence,'  drily  observes 
that  '  One  meets  with  people  in  the  world  who  seem  never 
to  have  made  the  last  of  these  observations.'  The  wise 
man  is  swift  to  hear  and  slow  to  speak.^  In  these  days  of 
scant  reflection  and  much  speaking  we  may  well  ponder 
the  lesson  to  be  learned  both  from  our  Lord's  sacred  reserve 
in  teaching,  and  from  His  habit  of  seeking  in  sohtude  new 
strength  and  inspiration  for  the  fulfilment  of  His  mission. 
Nor  must  we  ever  forget  that  we  live  and  walk  in  the  presence 
of  One  Who,  whatever  may  be  the  judgment  of  men  con- 
cerning our  words,  will  not  hold  us  guiltless  if  by  unreal, 
idle,  false,  unjust  or  unclean  speech  we  dishonour  His  Name ; 
or  if  while  confessing  Him  with  our  lips,  we  deny  Him  in 
our  hearts  and  in  our  lives.  Domine,  in  lumine  vultus  tui 
amhulahunt,  et  in  nomine  tuo  exsuUahunt  tota  die. 

1  Jas.  i.  19. 


IV 

'  Remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy.  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labour  and  do  all  thy  work  :  but  the  seventh  day  is  a  Sabbath 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou, 
nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  manservant,  nor  thy  maidservant, 
nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates  :  for  in 
six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in 
them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  ;  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed 
the  Sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it.' 


CHAPTER    VI 
THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT 

IN  the  case  of  this  precept,  aj  in  that  of  divorce,  our  Lord 
points  us  back  to  what  was  in  the  beginning.  The 
Sabbath,  He  says,  was  made  for  man.  ^  The  Jews  were  taught 
to  observe  the  seventh  day  on  the  ground  that  on  that  day 
the  great  Creator  had  rested  from  all  His  work.  The  main 
idea  which  they  connected  with  it  was  that  of  cessation 
from  labour.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  new  point  of  view,  a  new 
principle,  that  was  involved  in  Christ's  reference  to  the 
Sabbath,  a  principle  which  He  not  merely  affirmed  in  words 
but  illustrated  in  act  when  He  performed  works  of  mercy 
on  the  Sabbath  day  and  by  so  doing  laid  Himself  open  to 
the  charge  of  violating  its  sanctity.  ^  But  the  idea  that 
the  ordinance  of  the  Sabbath  originally  had  respect  to  the 
needs  of  man  was  to  some  extent  implied  in  the  form  of  the 
commandment  as  given  in  Deuteronomy  v.  The  Israelites 
are  there  enjoined  to  '  remember  '  on  the  Sabbath  day  the 
bondage  of  Egypt  and  the  deliverance  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  their  nationahty.  It  was  to  be  a  day  of  thanksgiving 
and  a  day  of  bounty,  in  the  benefits  of  which  servants 
and  strangers  and  dumb  animals  were  to  duly  participate.' 
It  is  probable  that  this  conception  of  Sabbath  observance 
was  earlier  than  the  idea  that  underlies  the  precept  in 

*  Mark  ii.  27.  2  Cp.  John  v.  16 ;    Luke  xiv.  16. 

3  Cp.  Deut.  XV,  12-18. 

118 


114  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Exodus  XX.  So  at  least  we  may  gather  from  some  references 
to  the  Sabbath  in  the  prophecy  of  Amos.  It  appears  from 
Amos  viii.  4  foil,  that  the  institution  was  already  threatened, 
as  it  has  often  been  since,  by  the  worldliness  and  greed  of 
what  we  should  now  call  the  '  commercial '  spirit.  By 
enforcing  the  cessation  of  work,  the  Sabbath  protected  the 
interests  of  the  poor  and  helpless,  the  heavy-laden  and  the 
oppressed.  '  The  interests  of  the  Sabbath,'  it  would  appear 
from  this  passage,  '  are  the  interests  of  the  poor  :  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Sabbath  are  the  enemies  of  the  poor.'  ^  That 
this  view  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  bounty  and  brotherly 
kindness  long  survived  and  was  perhaps  never  entirely 
forgotten,  we  may  gather  from  such  a  passage  as  Isaiah 
Iviii.,  which  describes  the  true  spirit  in  which  days,  whether 
of  fasting  or  festival,  should  be  observed. 

In  our  Lord's  time,  Pharisaism  had  to  a  great  extent 
robbed  the  Sabbath  of  its  higher  and  nobler  significance. 
The  prohibition  of  work  on  the  seventh  day  had  been  deve- 
loped to  an  almost  incredible  point.  No  less  than  thirty- 
nine  different  kinds  of  work  were  forbidden,  and  these  had 
many  subdivisions.  It  was  unlawful  even  to  wipe  an  open 
wound  or  to  stop  with  wax  a  leaking  cask.  In  plucking 
the  ears  of  corn  as  they  passed  through  the  wheat-fields, 
Christ's  disciples  were  guilty  of  two  offences  :  for  plucking 
the  ears  came  under  the  head  of  '  reaping,'  which  was,  of 
course,  prohibited,  and  rubbing  them  in  the  hands  was  a 
form    of  '  sifting  '   or  '  threshing.'  "^    Gradually,   however, 

1  G.  A.  Smith,  The  Book  oj  the  Twelve  Apostles,  i.  183.  He  remarks 
that  '  all  this  illustrates  our  Saviour's  saying,  that  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man.' 

*  See  more  in  Schiirer,  Hist,  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of 
Christ,  §  28  ;  Edersheim,  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah,  ii. 
52,  etc.,  and  appendix  xvii.  See  also  Montefiore,  Hibbert  Lectures, 
no.  ix.,  pp.  504  foil. 


THE   FOURTH   COMMANDMENT  115 

the  Jews  seem  to  have  risen  to  a  more  intelligent  view  of 
the  meaning  of  the  day.  If  work  was  forbidden,  it  was  at 
least  not  a  day  of  idleness  or  gloom.  In  medieval  times 
the  Sabbath  came  to  be  regarded  not  as  a  burden  but  as  a 
delight :  a  day  of  rest  and  tranquil  joy,  when  the  persecuted 
Jew  could  again  look  heavenward  and  feel  that  he  was  a 
son  of  the  covenant,  a  child  of  God.  The  Sabbath  was 
celebrated  in  many  hymns  as  a  day  of  peace  and  delight  ; 
tender  names  were  applied  to  it : '  Queen  '  or '  Bride  Sabbath,' 
'  Holy,  dear,  beloved  Sabbath.'  It  was  supposed  to  be 
the  day  to  which  the  text  applied,  The  blessing  of  the  Lord 
it  maketh  rich  and  He  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it.^ 

In  laying  down  the  principle,  therefore,  that  the  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man,  our  Lord  was  perhaps  appealing  to  a 
tradition  which  had  never  entirely  disappeared.  But  we 
must  think  of  His  utterance  as  confirming  an  eternal  prin- 
ciple— a  principle  attested  by  the  Law  of  Nature  which 
underKes  the  commandment :  the  moral  duty  of  setting 
apart  a  definite  time  for  the  worship  of  God :  cessation  of 
work  for  purposes  of  devotion.  The  observance  of  the 
seventh  day  was  the  temporal  form — the  ceremonial  limi- 
tation— in  and  under  which  a  moral  principle  was  enshrined ' : 
the  broad  principle  that  the  divine  claim  extends  to  the 
whole  of  life,  and  that  this  claim  is  to  be  acknowledged  by 
dedication  of  a  fixed  portion  of  time  to  the  special  service 
of  God. 

The   Christian   observance   of   Sunday   manifestly   does 

1  Prov.  X.  22. 

3  As  Turretin  points  out,  the  precept  is  a  mixed  one — partly 
moral,  partly  ceremonial  :  ceremonial  in  respect  of  the  particular 
determination  of  a  particular  time  (the  seventh  day).  This  ele- 
ment in  the  commandment  is  unessential.  Cp.  Nic.  de  Lyra  : '  Morale 
est  quantum  ad  hoc  quod  homo  tenetur  vacave  divinis.' 


ii6  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

not  rest  upon  the  letter  of  the  fourth  commandment,  but 
upon  the  principle  which  it  represents.     For  more  than  a 
century    the    Christian    Church    religiously    observed    the 
Sabbath  as  well  as  the  first  day  of  the  week,  possibly  out 
of  deference   to  Jewish  converts,  who  could  not  altogether 
abandon  the  religious  habits  in  which  they  had  been  nur- 
tured.    But  at  an  early  period,  Christian  teachers  found  it 
necessary  to  insist  that  the  observance  of  the  day  in  the 
Jewish  manner  was  to  be  avoided  as  a  Judaizing  reaction.  ^ 
'  No  longer  keep  Sabbath,'  writes  Ignatius,   '  but  live  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Lord's  Day.'     '  Refrain,' 
says  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  to  his  catechumens,  '  from  all 
observance  of  sabbaths.'  ^     The  attempt  indeed  to  combine 
the  Jewish  with  the  Christian  custom  was  expressly  con- 
demned by  the  council  of  Laodicea  (363),  and  is  spoken 
of  by  Gregory  the  Great  as  a  device  of  anti-Christ.     The 
observance  of  the  Christian  Sunday  rests  upon  a  different 
basis  and  appeals  to  a  different  motive.^    Our  Lord's  resur- 
rection marked  out  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day  of 
renewal  and  consecration  ;   restored  to  it  a  heavenly  char- 
acter and  use.     The  Sabbath  had  been  a  memorial  of  the 
creation  :    the  first  day  of  the  week  was  intended  to  keep 
in  remembrance  the  new  creation — the  restoration  of  all 
things  in  Christ.     Further,  the  custom  of  abstinence  from 
work  was  never  the  primary  and  leading  feature  of  the 

^  See  Bingham,  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  bk.  xx.,  ch.  3. 

*  Ignat.  ad  Magnesias,  ix.  ;    Cyr.  Hieros.  catech.  ilium,  iv.  37. 

3  Cp.  Bp.  Pearson,  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  art.  v.  :  '  The  obUga- 
tion  of  the  day  [the  Sabbath]  died  and  was  buried  with  Him,  but 
in  a  manner  by  a  diurnal  transmutation  revived  again  at  His  resur- 
rection. Well  might  that  day  which  carried  with  it  a  remembrance 
of  that  great  deliverance  from  the  Egyptian  servitude,  resign  all 
the  sanctity  or  solemnity  due  unto  it,  when  that  morning  once 
appeared  upon  which  a  far  greater  redemption  was  confirmed.' 


THE   FOURTH   COMMANDMENT  117 

Christian  Sunday.  For  some  three  centuries  there  seems 
to  have  been  no  cessation  of  work  on  Sundays  ;  men  were 
enjoined  if  possible  to  abstain  from  labour  in  order  that 
they  might  have  more  leisure  for  the  real  function  of  the 
day — the  solemn  worship  of  God.  We  must  not  forget, 
however,  that  our  Lord  rose  from  the  dead  on  a  working 
day  :  as  if  to  teach  us  that  man's  true  destiny  is  to  be 
achieved  through  active  use  of  all  his  faculties,  and  that 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come  involves  the  intensification 
of  all  energies,  whether  bodily  or  spiritual.  The  heaven 
for  which  we  look  is  a  sphere  of  work,  but  work  noble  and 
satisfying  in  quality,  unspoiled  by  sordid  motive  or  bondage 
of  routine,  unhindered  by  weakness,  and  crowned  with 
eternal  joy.  His  servants  shall  serve  Him.  The  Jews  had 
come  to  regard  the  Sabbath  almost  exclusively  as  the  day 
on  which  the  Creator  had  rested  from  His  work.  Our  Lord 
incidentally  corrected  what  was  partial  or  mistaken  in  this 
conception,  partly  by  teaching  that  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man  ;  partly  by  pointing  to  His  own  example, 
My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work  ;  partly  also  by  the 
very  fact  that  He  used  the  Sabbath  as  an  occasion  for 
doing  deeds  of  lovingkindness  and  compassion. 

For  Christians,  the  fourth  commandment  embodies,  as 
we  have  seen,  a  far-reaching  principle.  The  institution 
of  special  seasons  of  devotion  illustrates  a  leading  idea  of 
the  Bible — the  idea  of  election,  separation,  consecration. 
The  claim  of  God  upon  the  whole  of  life  was  to  be  recog- 
nized by  the  dedication  of  a  portion  as  symbolizing  that 
of  the  whole.  1  The  observance  of  Sunday  is  virtually  our 
acknowledgment  that  our  time,  as  well  as  our  substance, 
belongs  to  God.     Without  it,  His  claim  might  be  forgotten 

^  Cp.  Hooker,  EccL  Pol.  v.  70,  71. 


ii8  THE  RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

or  ignored.  Hence  the  commandment  begins  significantly 
with  the  word  Remember.  Its  central  thought  is  that  of 
worship  ;  but  since  the  idea  of  worship  is  a  comprehensive 
one,  the  precept  makes  mention  of  other  essential  elements 
in  that  true  life  of  man  which  consists  in  the  service  of  God. 

I.  The  commandment  speaks  first  of  work  :  it  re-enacts 
the  primeval  law  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  thou  shalt  eat  bread. 
Our  Lord  accepts  and  hallows  in  His  own  person  the  law 
of  labour.  He  was  Himself  a  worker.  The  word  '  work  ' 
was  constantly  on  His  lips.  He  felt  the  burden  and  pres- 
sure of  constraint.  /  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that 
sent  me.  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business.  I  must 
preach.  The  Son  of  Man  must  be  lifted  up.  Nor  do  we 
find  Him  speaking  of  work  as  if  it  was  invariably  pleasur- 
able or  brought  '  its  own  reward.'  Rather  it  is  a  task  or 
discipline,  needful  for  the  perfecting  of  character  and  the 
purifying  of  the  springs  of  life.  We  may  remember,  too, 
how  in  His  parables  Christ  seems  to  have  His  eye,  so  to 
speak,  on  every  type  of  industry — the  labour  of  the 
field  and  of  the  vineyard  ;  of  the  farm  and  of  the  pasture  ; 
the  toil  of  the  fisherman,  of  the  busy  housewife,  of  the 
servant  in  the  great  household,  of  the  merchant  and  the 
employer  of  labour. 

There  is  something  in  this  thought  that  specially  appeals 
to  the  English  mind.  Emerson,  writing  in  1847,  speaks 
of  the  English  as  '  a  nation  of  labourers.'  '  I  suppose,' 
he  adds,  '  no  people  have  such  thoroughness  ;  from  highest 
to  lowest  every  man  meaning  to  be  master  of  his  craft.' 
Indeed,  '  intemperate  labour '  has  been  regarded  as  a 
besetting  sin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ;  and  legislation 
has  for  some  sixty  or  seventy  years  past  been  largely  directed 
towards  the  restriction  of  labour  in  the  case  of  women, 
children  and  other  defenceless  persons. 


THE   FOURTH   COMMANDMENT  119 

Work  is,  in  short,  a  service  which  each  man  owes  to  God, 
to  society  and  to  himself.  The  labour  problem,  which  in 
modern  times  dominates  all  other  questions,  must  be  re- 
garded from  above,  in  the  light  of  that  relationship  of  man 
to  God,  to  himself  and  to  his  fellow,  which  Christ  revealed. 
Work,  to  satisfy  the  Gospel  conception  of  it,  must  be  of 
a  kind  that  guards  and  fosters  the  self-respect  of  the  worker, 
that  elevates,  trains  and  expands  his  nature,  that  brings 
him  a  sense  of  moral  satisfaction.  But  a  vast  proportion 
of  the  labour  of  men  in  the  modern  industrial  community 
is  of  the  sort  which,  so  far  from  uplifting  the  toiler,  crushes 
and  degrades  him.  Under  modern  conditions  we  are  con- 
fronted by  the  picture  of  '  a  world  on  which  work  settles 
down  as  a  blight,  a  shadow,  a  curse  ' ;  in  which  work  is 
for  vast  masses  of  the  population  excessive,  monotonous, 
exhausting ;  robbing  the  labourer  of  aspiration,  of  hope, 
of  all  that  tends  to  the  perfection  of  his  manhood.  The 
task  of  the  State  in  this  regard  is  plain.  It  must  endeavour, 
by  fixing  (at  least,  in  certain  forms  of  industry)  a  standard 
wage,  by  shortening  the  hours  of  toil,  and  by  '  reducing 
Sunday  labour  to  the  minimum  consistent  with  the  claims 
of  necessity  and  mercy  '  ^  to  secure  for  the  toiler  what  he 
chiefly  needs  :  a  fair  chance  of  self-expansion,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  other  sides  of  his  nature — ^his  family 
affections,  his  intelligence,  his  sense  of  beauty,  his  powers 
of  enjoyment,  his  spiritual  faculties.  The  Gospel  of  Christ, 
in  proclaiming  the  dignity  of  labour,  strikes  at  the  root  of 
those  terrible  evils  to  which  we  have  just  referred  ;  it  also 
passes  a  just  condemnation  upon  those  who  on  any  pretext 
evade  the  law  of  work ;   who  are  content  to  be  idle  while 

1  This  is  one  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  Imperial  Sunday 
Alliance  and  Sunday  Lay  Movement,  respecting  which  information 
may  be  obtained  at  the  Office,  i,  Albemarle  Street,  London,  W. 


120  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

multitudes  are  toiling  without  leisure,  without  proper 
housing  or  food,  without  hope  of  relief,  without  a  living 
wage.  It  utterly  discountenances  all  low  and  unworthy 
ideas  of  work  :  as  that  a  gentleman  is  one  who  '  has  nothing 
to  do  '  or  who  '  need  not  work  for  his  living  '  ;  or  that  work 
is  an  evil  and  a  burden  which  must  if  possible  be  avoided ; 
or  that  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  may  be  lawfully  made  the 
serious  business  of  life.  The  alarming  increase  of  the 
gambling  habit  in  England  really  means  that  in  all  ranks 
of  society  men  and  women  are  anxious  to  become  rich 
quickly  and  to  do  so  in  forgetfulness  or  defiance  of  God's 
law  of  work. 

It  is  ill  for  us  if  we  shirk,  from  any  motive,  the  discipline 
of  labour  and  so  decline  to  share  the  common  lot  of  man. 
It  is  equally  an  offence  against  the  spirit  of  the  fourth 
commandment  if  we  allow  others  to  labour  on  the  day  of 
rest  simply  to  minister  to  our  selfish  pleasure.  Unfor- 
tunately the  prevalent  habits  of  the  well-to-do  classes  have 
brought  about  an  immense  increase  of  Sunday  labour, 
especially  in  the  case  of  servants,  for  many  of  whom,  especi- 
ally in  London  and  in  country  houses,  the  '  day  of  rest '  is 
the  most  toilsome  of  the  week.  We  need  carefully  to  con- 
sider how  evils  of  this  kind  can  be  remedied.  But  the 
first  step  will  be  to  accept  cheerfully  in  our  own  persons 
the  law  of  work  :  taking  care  that  our  time  is  fruitfully 
employed  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  our  fellow-men. 
Moreover,  we  should  remember  that  the  duty  of  work  is 
particularly  incumbent  on  those  who  are  endowed  with 
special  advantages — wealth,  leisure,  genius,  culture,  rank. 
On  this  subject  more  will  be  said  in  connexion  with 
the  eighth  commandment,  which  implies  the  claim  of 
society   upon   the    industry    of    all    its    members   alike.  ^ 

^  See  below,  pp.   191-194,   where    reference    is  made  to  Arch- 


THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT  121 

We  can  only  learn  fellow-feeling  with  the  oppressed  victims 
of  excessive  toil,  we  can  only  enter  into  their  crying  needs 
and  sufferings,  if  we  are  in  a  real  sense  active  workers  our- 
selves :  contributing  by  toil  of  hand  or  brain,  by  action 
or  by  counsel,  to  the  tasks  of  civilization  and  to  the  extension 
of  God's  kingdom  on  earth. 

2.  The  commandment  also  enjoins  the  consecration,  or 
keeping  holy,  of  the  Sabbath  day.  For  Christians  the  main 
purpose  of  Sunday,  to  which  cessation  from  work  is  subser- 
vient, is  the  worship  of  God.  The  Sabbath  was  intended  to 
remind  Israel  of  its  vocation  to  be  a  peculiar  people,  a  holy 
nation.  Ye  shall  he  holy  for  I  Jehovah  your  God  am  holy^ 
After  the  exile,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  com- 
monly regarded  as  a  sign  of  the  covenant  between  God 
and  Israel,  a  token  of  membership  in  the  holy  community.  ^ 
It  was  one  of  those  customs  which,  as  it  could  be  practised 
without  interference  on  foreign  soil,  kept  alive  among  the 
Jews  of  the  Dispersion  the  spirit  of  nationality.  Philo 
observes  that  in  this,  as  in  everything  else,  the  Jews  were 
enjoined  to  imitate  God.  They  were  not  merely  to  rest 
from  labour  as  He  had  rested.  They  were  in  all  things 
to  be  conformed  to  the  divine  pattern.  The  command- 
ment was  in  fact  essentially  a  call  to  sanctity ;  and  it  im- 
parted to  the  Sabbath  a  peculiar  significance  as  a  memorial 
of  that  for  which  Israel  existed — to  manifest  in  its  polity, 
and  in  the  lives  of  its  individual  members,  the  holiness  of 
God. 

deacon  Cunningham's  book.  The  Gospel  of  Work  (Cambridge, 
1902),  pp.  39-41.  Readers  of  this  book  will  scarcely  need  to  be 
reminded  of  Carlyle's  insistence  on  the  law  of  labour  in  Past  and 
Present  (esp.  bk.  iii.  ch.  xi.). 

1  Lev.  xix.  2  ;    cp.  xxi.  8. 

2  Exod.  xxxi.  12-17;    Ezek.  xx.  11,  12;    Neh.  ix.  13,  14;    cp. 
Isa.  Ivi.  6. 


122  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

The  keynote  of  the  Christian  Sunday  is  to  be  found  in 
its  ancient  title  the  Lord's  day — the  day  which  Christ  had 
hallowed  by  His  resurrection  ;  the  day  on  which  He  poured 
down  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  from  on  high.  It  was  the  day 
when  the  soul  was  called  to  give  itself  up  to  the  contempla- 
tion and  praise  of  God,  in  order  that  with  heart  refreshed 
and  purpose  renewed,  it  might  live  unto  God  continually 
and  consecrate  to  Him  all  times  and  seasons  alike.  This 
is  what  Ignatius  means  when  he  bids  the  Magnesians  '  lead 
a  life  agreeable  to  the  Lord's  day  '  ^ :  a  life,  that  is,  not  of 
formal  observances  but  of  spiritual  activity  and  spiritual 
aspiration :  in  New  Testament  language,  a  life  worthy  of 
those  who  have  risen  with  Christ,  and  are  therefore  separated 
from  the  world  and  dedicated  to  the  divine  service.  In 
this  sense  Christians  are  to  keep  continual  Sabbath.^ 

Sunday  is  accordingly  best  observed  as  a  day  of  retire- 
ment from  the  world.  It  comes  to  remind  us  '  that  we 
should  not  spend  ourselves  and  our  time  in  perpetually 
carking  and  labouring  about  affairs  touching  our  body  and 
this  present  life.'^  It  is  an  opportunity  for  resting  in  the 
thought  of  God :  for  contemplating  His  work  in  Nature 
and  in  providence :  for  worshipping  Him  in  the  assembly 
of  the  faithful  and  giving  thanks  to  Him  for  what  He  is 
in  Himself  and  what  He  has  wrought  for  the  good  of  man  : 
for  studying  His  word  and  learning  His  will.  Philo  lays 
great  stress  on  the  fact  that  God  is  described  in  Scripture 

1  ad  Magn,  ix.  :  Kara  KvpiaKrjv  ^oivTcs.  See  Bp.  Lightfoot's 
note.     Cp.  Bingham,  xx.  2. 

2  Iren.  iv.  16.  i  :  '  Sabbata  perse verantiam  totius  diei  erga 
Deum  deservitionis  edocebant.'  Cp.  Tertull.  adv.  Judaeos,  iv.  ; 
Just.  M.,  dial.  c.  Tryph.  229  C. 

'  Barrow.  Cp.  T.  Aquin.,  Siimma,  i.  ii  .  100.  3  :  '  Praecipitur 
quies  cordis  in  Deum.' 


THE   FOURTH  COMMANDMENT  123 

as  having  '  rested.'  He  dwells  on  the  thought  of  the 
Creator  contemplating  His  crowning  work — the  body  and 
living  soul  of  man ;  and  he  regards  the  Sabbath  as  an 
opportunity  given  to  the  Jews  to  follow  the  divine  example 
by  devoting  themselves  to  meditation  upon,  and  recollection 
of,  sacred  things.  We  may  say  that  for  Christians  Sunday 
is  a  day  of  recreation  in  its  noblest  sense  :  a  day  of  freedom 
from  worldly  cares  ;  a  day  for  the  renewal  of  the  life  of 
soul  and  spirit.  Augustine  fittingly  connects  the  com- 
mandment with  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Sancti- 
fier.  In  His  presence  with  us  we  alread}/  have  a  pledge 
of  the  Sabbath  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God  ; 
so  that  already  we  begin  (as  he  beautifully  says)  in  Domino 
et  in  Deo  nostra  tranquilli  esse.^  The  lesson  that  is  specially 
needed  in  these  days  of  stress  and  strain  is  the  need  of 
quiescence  in  human  life,  since  growth  in  grace  depends  not 
only  upon  moral  activity,  but  upon  receptivity  of  spirit. 
The  Christian  life  is  a  grace  or  free  gift  of  God.  '  Essen- 
tially we  are  throughout  receivers  not  workers.'  ^  In  reli- 
gion, as  in  the  study  of  Nature,  Wordsworth's  wise  maxim 
holds  good : — 

'  We  can  feed  this  mind  of  ours 
In  a  wise  passiveness.' 

Sunday  is  a  precious  opportunity  for  cultivating  that 
meditative  habit  of  mind  which  is  the  secret  of  spiritual 
insight,  of  growth  in  character,  and  of  peace  in  believing.  It 
reminds  us  that  our  true  destiny  is  fulfilled  by  bearing  as  well 
as  by  doing ;  by  being  acted  upon,  not  less  than  by  acting ; 
by  patience  not  less  than  by  toil ;   by  yielding  ourselves  up 

^  Serm.  ix.,  '  De  decern  chordis,'  vi. 

'  R.  C.  Moberly,  Atonement  and  Personality,  p.  320. 


124  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

to  God  in  that  temper  of  mind  which  before  it  says  Lo  I 
come  to  do  Thy  will,  breathes  the  petition,  Be  it  unto  me 
according  to  Thy  Word.^ 

3.  The  fourth  commandment  is  a  law  of  rest.  It  is  pro- 
bable that  the  Hebrew  Sabbath  was  originally  borrowed 
from  Babylonia ;  certainly  it  is  an  institution  which  in  one 
form  or  another  has  its  counterpart  in  the  customs  of  other 
primitive  peoples.  There  is,  however,  no  need  to  discuss 
its  origin  in  this  place.  The  point  of  importance  is  that 
it  seems  to  respond  to  a  vital  need,  not  only  of  the  moral, 
but  of  the  physical  nature  of  man. 

Next  to  worship,  the  most  obvious  duty  inculcated  by 
the  commandment  is  the  due  recreation  of  the  body  and 
mind  after  six  days  of  toil.  '  Let  us  not,'  says  Hooker, 
'  take  rest  for  idleness.  They  are  idle  who. .1  the  painfulness 
of  action  causeth  to  avoid  those  labours  whereunto  both 
God  and  nature  bindeth  them  ;  they  rest  which  either  cease 
from  their  work  when  they  have  brought  it  unto  perfection, 
or  else  give  over  a  meaner  labour  because  a  worthier  and 
better  is  to  be  undertaken.'  ^  Sunday  provides  an  oppor- 
tunity for  an  entire  change  in  the  form  of  our  bodily  or 
mental  activity.  The  hard- worked  clerk  or  business  man, 
the  man  or  woman  spent  with  the  toil  of  workshop  or  factory, 
probably  needs  above  all  things  physical  recreation,  either 
sheer  ease  and  rest,  or  the  refreshment  that  comes  to  heart 
and  brain  through  open-air  exercise.  It  is  impossible  to 
lay  down  precise  rules  in  matters  of  this  kind.  It  must  be 
left  to  the  individual  conscience  to  determine  what  is  right 
and  advisable  in  particular  cases.  It  certainly  is  not  wrong 
to  indulge  in  outdoor  sports  on  Sundays,  so  long  as  such 

*  Cp.  J.  H.  Skrine,  Saints  and  Worthies,  no.  x. 
a  Eccl.  Pol.  V.  70.  4. 


THE   FOURTH  COMMANDMENT  125 

sports  enable  men  to  serve  God  better  in  the  week,  and  do 
not  interfere  with,  the  leisure,  or  needlessly  wound  the  con- 
science, of  others.  But  it  is  clearly  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  the  commandment  to  devote  excessive  time  to  bodily 
recreation  of  whatever  kind  ;  it  is  dishonouring  the  Lord's 
day  to  forget  the  law  of  worship.  This,  as  is  well  known, 
was  the  principle  which  the  Book  of  Sports  (1618)  endeav- 
oured to  impress  upon  the  popular  mind.  '  His  Majesty's 
pleasure  was  that,  after  the  end  of  divine  service,  his  good 
people  be  not  disturbed,  letted,  or  discouraged  from  any 
lawful  recreation,  such  as  dancing,  archery,  leaping,  vaulting, 
etc.  ;  nor  from  having  of  May-games,  Whitsun-ales,  morice 
dances,  and  the  setting  up  of  May-poles,  or  other  sports 
therewith  used ;  so  that  the  same  be  had  in  due  and  con- 
venient time,  without  impediment  or  neglect  of  divine 
service.  .  .  .  And  the  present  recreations  are  forbidden 
to  any  who,  though  conforming  to  religion,  are  not  present 
in  the  church  at  the  service  of  God,  before  going  to  the  said 
recreations.' 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Puritans  were  well  advised 
when  they  did  their  utmost  to  thwart  this  well-meant  attempt 
to  meet  a  real  need  and  to  vindicate  an  important  principle. 
The  passion  for  recreation  has  in  our  time  threatened  to 
break  through  all  reasonable  restraints,  and  the  problem 
of  Sunday  observance  has  become  acute,  mainly  as  the 
result  of  individualistic  selfishness. 

People  take  their  pleasure,  not  merely  in  defiance  of  the 
claim  of  their  own  higher  nature,  but  at  the  expense  of 
others,  depriving  them  of  their  rightful  share  of  leisure  and 
hindering  them  from  fulfilling  their  duty  to  God.  Indeed, 
the  religious  question  of  Sunday  observance  has  a  serious 
social  aspect,  which  has  already  necessitated  legislation, 
and  will  doubtless  lead  to  further  intervention  on  the  part 


126  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

of  the  State.  The  claims  of  pohcemen  and  other  classes, 
whose  labour  cannot  be  altogether  intermitted  on  Sunday, 
will  have  to  be  fairly  recognized  and  satisfied.  But  iilti- 
mately  the  problem  of  Sunday  recreation  is  one  that  must 
be  left  to  the  individual  conscience.  The  question  for  each 
is,  '  How  far  does  this  or  that  form  of  pleasure  hinder  or 
help  my  spiritual  life  ?  how  far  does  it  help  me  to  do  my 
duty  to  God,  or  make  me  more  efficient  in  my  appointed 
work  ?  Above  all,  how  does  it  affect  the  liberty  or  the 
conscience  of  others  ?  '  For  in  this,  as  in  all  moral  ques- 
tions, we  are  bound  to  take  account  of  the  ultimate  bearings 
of  our  own  action  on  the  well-being  of  others.  The  principles 
which  St.  Paul  lays  down  in  Romans  xii.  and  xiv.  or  in  i 
Corinthians  viii.  have  their  application  in  this  connexion; 
the  Christian  is  one  who  lives  and  acts,  in  least  things 
as  in  greatest,  '  with  a  feeling  of  the  whole  ' ;  with  an  eye 
to  the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member ;  honouring 
all  men  and  respecting  their  rights ;  not  seeking  merely 
his  own  advantage  nor  forgetting  to  do  to  others  as  he 
would  be  done  by.  The  entire  question  at  issue  needs  to 
be  considered,  not  (as  hitherto)  from  the  standpoint  of 
individual  Uberty,  but  from  that  of  the  highest  human 
welfare. 

With  these  few  comments  we  may  leave  the  subject  of 
physical  recreation,  having  sufficiently  indicated  the  broad 
principle  which  demands  recognition.  As  regards  other 
than  bodily  forms  of  recreation,  it  will  suffice  to  point  out 
that  Sunday  is  an  opportunity  for  cultivating  our  highest 
faculties  by  study  of  the  Bible,  by  reading  wholesome  and 
noble  literature,  or  by  some  other  occupation  that  will  coun- 
teract the  '  Philistinism  '  towards  which,  in  these  days  of 
excessive  athleticism,  we  tend  to  gravitate :  the  study  of 
art,  the  hearing  of  good  music,  the  cultivation  generally  of 


THE   FOURTH   COMMANDMENT  127 

faculties  which  He  dormant  during  the  stress  of  the  week's 
work.  1 

4.  One  other  point  calls  for  attention.  If  Christians  are 
true  to  what  is  best  and  noblest  in  the  Jewish  tradition  of 
Sabbath  observance,  they  will  regard  Sunday  as  a  day  of 
bounty  and  beneficence.  They  will  think  of  the  fourth 
commandment  as  giving  a  solemn  sanction  to  duties  of 
humanity,  consideration  for  servants  and  workpeople,  and 
kindness  to  animals.  Our  Lord  chose  to  work  many  of 
His  miracles  of  mercy  on  the  Sabbath  ;  He  used  it  in  such 
a  way  as  best  to  illustrate  the  prophet's  utterance  respecting 
the  day  acceptable  to  the  Lord.  It  was  His  custom  on  the 
Sabbath,  as  opportunity  allowed,  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free, 
and  to  break  every  yoke.^  Some  form  of  work  for  others, 
some  beneficent  action  on  their  behalf,  is  the  most  appro- 
priate occupation  for  Sunday.  It  is  a  day  for  knitting  closely 
the  bonds  of  family  affection.  The  home  is,  or  ought  to 
be,  the  school  of  brotherly  love,  and  the  spirit  of  kindness 
learnt  there  should  open  our  hearts  to  the  need  and  sufferings 
of  others.  So  may  we  hold  a  real  communion  with  Him 
Who  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath.^  '  We  find  Him  '  (they  are  the 
words  of  Bishop  King,  of  Lincoln),  '  when  we  feed  His 
lambs ;  in  teaching,  in  feeding,  in  amusing  children,  we  find 
His  presence  there.  .  .  .  When  we  rejoice  with  those  that 
rejoice,  and  help  forward  the  mirth  of  innocent  amusement, 
we  feel  Him  there.     He  healed  the  sick.  He  fed  the  hungry, 

1  On  '  Sunday  Reform  '  see  Canon  Barnett's  paper  in  The  Service 
of  God,  pp.  295  foil.  ;  cp.  also  the  remarks  (written  from  a  very 
different  standpoint)  of  Mr.  B.  Bosanquet  in  The  Civilization  of 
Christendom,  ch.  i.  esp.  pp.  14-16. 

2  Isa.  Iviii.  5,  6. 

'  Tert.  speaks  of  our  Lord  in  a  fine  sentence  as  :  '  Novae  legis 
lator,  sabbati  spiritalis  cultor,  sacrificiorum  aeternorum  antistes, 
regni  aeterni  aetemus  dominator  '  [adv.  Judaeos,  vi.). 


128  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

wept  over  and  raised  the  dead  ;  and  when  we  follow  His 
example  we  know  the  refreshment  of  His  companionship.' 
In  making  Sunday  for  others  a  day  of  health  and  joy,  of 
refreshment  and  peace,  we  are  imitating  Christ  and  so  foster- 
ing most  surely  in  ourselves  that  which  alone  brings  blessed- 
ness— the  spirit  of  devotion  to  God. 

We  cannot  forget  in  connexion  with  the  fourth  com- 
mandment our  Lord's  promise  of  rest.  The  true  '  Sabbath 
of  the  soul '  is  unbroken  even  by  the  routine  of  daily  work  : 
for  it  means  that  quietness  and  tranquillity  of  mind,  which 
springs  from  a  living  belief  in  God's  providence,  and  from  a 
quiet  conscience.  This  restfulness  in  work,  this  freedom 
from  inordinate  anxiety  and  sense  of  strain,  is  a  great  power 
in  life.  We  see  it  in  its  perfectness  in  Christ  Himself,  re- 
flecting in  an  earthly  life  the  infinite  tranquillity  of  Him 
Who  is  semper  agens,  semper  quietus.  In  its  measure  this 
spirit  of  repose  is  attainable  by  Christians,  even  in  the 
busiest  and  most  hard-pressed  lives.  They  may,  if  they 
will,  rest  as  those  who  are  upheld  and  borne  onwards  by 
the  Spirit :  led  to  each  task  by  His  hand,  sustained  in  each 
trial  and  conflict  by  His  strength,  gladdened  continually 
by  the  tokens  of  His  presence  and  power.  In  a  real  sense 
we  are  at  rest  when  we  work  and  strive  and  suffer  in  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  in  conscious  dependence  upon  God. 

We  may  say  in  conclusion  that  the  right  use  of  Sundays 
has  a  direct  bearing  both  on  the  spiritual  life  of  individual 
Christians  and  on  national  welfare. 

This  latter  aspect  of  Sunday  observance  must  not  be 
overlooked.  The  secularization  of  the  day  undoubtedly 
means  the  loss  of  something  which  has  helped  in  no  small 
measure  to  build  up  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  the 
English  people.  Sunday  is  a  barrier  against  materialism. 
A  German  writer  on  Ethics  even  regards  it  as  '  the  founda- 


THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT  129 

tion  of  English  freedom  '  in  so  far  as  it  means  '  the  subjection 
of  time  to  the  ordinance  of  God,'  and  so  implies  the  claim 
of  God  on  the  whole  of  the  national  life.^  The  thought  of 
God,  the  idea  that  life  has  a  spiritual  basis,  lies  at  the  root 
of  our  civilization  ;  and  Sunday  is  the  periodically  recurring 
opportunity  for  giving  vitality  to  the  thought  of  God  in 
men's  minds,  making  His  existence  and  His  will  a  supreme 
power  in  their  lives.  How  this  may  most  effectually  be 
done  is  the  problem  which  at  present  confronts  us  in  view 
of  the  widespread  reaction  from  an  unintelligent  Sabbatarian- 
ism, on  the  one  hand,  and  the  growth  of  individualism  on 
the  other.  It  is  vitally  important  to  the  national  well- 
being  that  Christians  should  recover  their  hold  upon  the 
great  principle  which  underlies  the  institution  of  Sunday,  for 
it  has  been  wisel}^  observed  that  just  as  the  observance  of 
Sunday  has  in  the  past  rested  on  religion,  so  the  non-observ- 
ance also  must  rest  on  religion.  We  must  learn  to  use  in  a 
religious  spirit  the  liberty  which  Christ  bestowed  on  us  when 
He  said.  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man. 

1  Dorner,  System  of  Christian  Ethics,  §  54. 


'  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  :    that  thy  days  may  be 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.' 


CHAPTER   VII 
THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT 

OUR  Lord,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Old 
Testament,  sums  up  the  Decalogue  in  two  precepts : 
Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  :  Thou  shall  love  thy  neighbour 
as  thyself.  But  we  cannot  fail  to  observe  how  practically 
prominent  in  His  teaching  is  the  second  table,  and  how  He 
commends  the  love  of  our  fellow-men  as  His  new  command- 
ment on  the  very  eve  of  His  Passion.  He  declares  that  men 
enter  into  life  by  fulfilling  the  law  of  love.  The  knowledge 
of  God  as  Father,  which  is  the  main  subject  of  His  teaching, 
is  to  bear  fruit  primarily  in  the  life  of  social  righteousness,  the 
life  of  brotherly  love  ;  and  conversely,  it  is  through  the  ful- 
filment of  duty  to  our  fellows  that  we  rise  to  the  love  of  God. 
Morality  is  thus  seen  to  have  its  foundation  in  religion. 
St.  Paul  points  out  in  the  opening  chapter  of  the  epistle  to 
the  Romans  the  way  in  which  the  anti-social  sins  of  mankind 
flow  from  the  refusal  to  have  God  in  their  knowledge.  The 
fifth  commandment  stands,  as  it  were,  on  the  confines  of 
both  tables,  inasmuch  as  parents  form  a  link  between  the 
Creator  and  mankind.  As  ministers  of  His  providence  they 
share  in  a  real  though  distant  degree,  the  reverence  which 
is  due  to  Him.  To  them,  as  to  Him,  a  debt  of  gratitude  is 
due  which  can  never  be  adequately  discharged.  ^    Further, 

^  Grotius  :    '  Proximi  Deo  sunt  parentes  et  veluti  in  terns  dii 
quidam,  quorum  ministerio  Deus  usus  est  ut  nos  in  pulcerrimum 

Ml 


132  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

as  the  institution  of  the  family  is  the  germ  and  nucleus  of 
human  society,  so  it  is  the  natural  school  of  social  and  civic 
virtue.  It  exhibits  the  action  of  those  principles  by  which 
society  is  held  together:  the  principles  of  authority  and 
equaUty,  of  dependence  and  service.  '  In  the  family,'  says 
Bishop  Westcott,  *  we  learn  to  set  aside  the  conception  of 
right  and  to  place  in  its  stead  the  conception  of  duty.'  ^ 
The  family  being  thus  the  primary  sphere  of  ethical  obliga- 
tion, the  fifth  commandment  holds  its  fitting  place  at  the 
head  of  the  second  table.  It  is  noticeable,  moreover,  that 
just  as  the  first  commandment  begins  with  a  revelation  of 
grace,  so  the  fifth  has  a  promise  annexed  to  it :  the  promise 
of  life.  The  continuity  of  family  or  national  history  depends 
upon  the  loyalty  with  which  each  generation  preserves 
what  is  good  in  the  heritage  that  descends  to  it  from  the 
past.  It  is  the  safety  of  nations  and  societies  to  observe 
what  Burke  calls  the  '  old  and  settled  maxim  ' — '  never 
wholly  and  at  once  to  depart  from  antiquity.'  ^ 


Duty  to  parents  is  enjoined  by  St.  Paul  as  a  law  of  natural 
right.  ^  It  is  enforced  by  our  Lord's  own  example  of  sub- 
jection, and  the  neglect  of  filial  duty  is  mentioned  more 
than  once  in  the  New  Testament  as  a  grave  symptom  of 
social  disorder  and  moral  decay.  *  Reverence  for  parents  and 
elders  was  one  of  the  elements  of  strength  in  the  highest  types 

templum  suum  introduceret.'  Aquinas :  '  Duo  sunt  quorum 
beneficiis  sufficientcr  nullus  recompensare  potest,  scilicet  Deus  et 
pater  (comparing  Arist.  Eth.  Nic.  viii.  14.  4).'  Summa  i.  ii**. 
ICO.  7  ad  I. 

1  Westcott,  Social  Aspects  of  Christianity,  p.  22. 

*  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution.     Cp.  Hooker  v.  7.  i. 

3  Eph.  vi.   I.  *  Rom.  i.  30;    2  Tim.  iii.  2. 


THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT  133 

of  ancient  civilization.  In  Israel's  '  Law  of  holiness  '  (Lev. 
xvii.-xxvi.)  this  duty  occupies  a  remarkably  prominent  place. 
Leviticus  xix,  2,  3,  for  instance,  implies  that  the  essential 
holiness  of  Israel  is  to  be  primarily  manifested  in  two  direc- 
tions :  first,  in  a  due  regard  to  the  claim  of  parents  ;  sec- 
ondly, in  the  careful  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  ^  The 
beautiful  teaching  of  Ecclus.  iii.  1-16  might  be  illustrated 
by  sapngs  of  Confucius,  Plato  and  Aristotle.  There  is  a 
passage,  indeed,  in  Plato's  Laws  which  reads  like  an  expan- 
sion of  the  fifth  commandment.  '  Next  [to  the  honour 
paid  to  gods  and  demi-gods]  comes  the  honour  of  living 
parents,  to  whom,  as  is  meet,  we  have  to  pay  the  first  and 
greatest  and  oldest  of  all  debts,  considering  that  all  that  a 
man  has  belongs  to  those  who  gave  him  birth  and  brought 
him  up,  and  that  he  must  do  all  that  he  can  to  minister  to 
them  :  first,  in  his  property  ;  secondly,  in  his  person  ;  and 
thirdly,  in  his  soul.  .  .  .  And  all  his  life  long  he  ought 
never  to  utter,  or  to  have  uttered,  an  unbecoming  word  to 
them,  for  of  all  light  and  winged  words  he  will  have  to  give 
an  account.'  ^  St.  Augustine  mentions  the  comfort  it  gave 
him  that  his  dying  mother  called  him  a  '  dutiful '  son,  and 
declared  that  she  had  never  heard  him  utter  against  her  a 
single  harsh  or  reproachful  speech.  '  But,  O  my  God,'  he 
adds,  '  how  can  the  reverence  I  paid  to  her  be  compared 
with  the  service  she  rendered  to  me  ?  '  ^ 

The  general  duty  to  parents  enjoined  by  this  com- 
mandment is  described  in  the  words  of  the  catechism  :  *  to 
love,  honour  and  succour  my  father  and  mother.'  In  the 
fulfilment  of  these  obligations  children  are  apt  to  be  hindered 
by  pride  and  impatience  of  authority,  by  sloth,  by  selfish- 

1  Cp.  Lev.  XX.  9  ;    xxiv.  15.  2  piato,  Legg.  iv.,  717. 

3  Aug.,  Confessions,  ix.  12.  30. 


134  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

ness,  or  even  by  sheer  thoughtlessness ;  but  it  is  also  true 
that  parents  on  their  side  are  apt  to  fail  in  fairness  and 
considerateness,  in  patience  and  firmness,  in  sympathy  and 
wisdom.  St.  Paul  seems  to  be  aware  of  this  when  he  warns 
parents  not  to  provoke  nor  discourage  their  children  by  any 
harsh  use  of  authority  or  by  unduly  severe  discipline.^  In 
days  when  the  psychology  of  adolescence  is  more  intelhgently 
studied  than  formerly,  we  realize  how  dehcate  and  difficult 
is  the  task  of  directing  and  training  the  minds  and  characters 
of  the  young  at  an  age  when  they  are  dimly  conscious  that 
God  Himself  is  leading  them,  and  is  revealing  to  them 
visions  and  ideals  which  sometimes  involve  a  severe  strain 
on  body  and  soul  alike.  The  storm  and  stress  that  accom- 
panies the  awakening  of  new  capacities  of  thought  and 
emotion  produces  changes  in  the  growing  child  which  are 
easily  misunderstood  by  parents  and  often  cost  them  distress 
great  in  proportion  to  the  intensity  of  their  affection.  It 
is  a  hard  lesson  for  parents  to  learn  that '  the  young  cannot 
be  as  the  old ;  they  must  fall  under  new  influences  ;  they 
must  be  sensitive  to  new  impressions  ;  they  must  hear  new 
things.  .  .  .  Youth  is  a  sacred  thing.  It  must  go  about 
its  Father's  business.  .  .  .  Too  often  it  is  sadly  alloyed 
with  wrong ;  and  yet  there  is  something  in  it  which  we 
must  revere,  with  which  we  may  not  interfere.  There  is  a 
point  at  which  we  must  fall  back,  and  be  satisfied  to  watch 
and  pray.'  ^ 

The  fifth  commandment  regulates  home-life  and  therefore 
has  a  direct  bearing  upon  parental  duty.  But  in  form,  at 
any  rate,  it  is  addressed  to  the  children.     It  warns  them 

^  Eph.  vi.  I  foil. 

2  From  a  sermon  of  Dr.  H.  Scott  Holland  on  '  The  Boyhood  of 
Jesus  '  in  Pleas  and  Claims  for  Christ,  no.  xi.  Cp.  Old  and  New, 
no.  iii.  '  From  home  to  home,'  by  the  same  writer. 


THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT  135 

that  no  enlargement  of  experience,  no  expansion  of  intellec- 
tual powers,  no  change  of  outward  circumstances,  exempts 
them  from  the  fundamental  duties  of  reverence  and  con- 
sideration for  parents.  In  matters  of  religion  (to  take  only 
a  single  instance)  the  young  often  enjoy  larger  privileges 
and  opportunities  than  did  their  parents  before  them  ;  they 
are  attracted  perhaps  by  a  type  of  worship  which  is  unfami- 
liar and  uncongenial  to  their  elders ;  they  feel  themselves 
powerfully  drawn  to  take  part  in  forms  of  social  or  religious 
work  which  are  novel  and  untried  ;  and  there  is  the  danger 
of  making  opportunities  of  this  kind  an  excuse  for  neglecting 
home  duties,  and  even  falling  into  the  sin  of  the  Pharisees, 
who  in  their  zeal  for  a  ceremonial  law  violated  a  primary 
moral  obHgation.^  On  the  other  hand,  some  need  to  be 
reminded  that  the  first  commandment  is  greater  than  the 
fifth,  and  that  the  love  of  parents  must  not  be  allowed  to 
interfere  with  duty  to  God. 

II 

The  circumstances  of  modern  life,  the  spread  of  education, 
the  growth  of  industrialism,  the  changed  habits  and  ideals 
of  society,  have  had  a  marked  effect  on  the  institutions  of 
marriage  and  the  family.  The  present  is  a  time  when  the 
rights  of  individuality  are  demanding  recognition,  and  at 
first  sight  neither  the  teaching  of  the  Old  Testament  nor 
that  of  the  Gospel  appears  to  be  compatible  with  the  spirit 
of  self-assertion.  In  his  brief  treatment  of  the  ethics  of 
family-life  St.  Paul  enjoins  each  member  of  the  typical 
household  to  bear  in  mind  the  claims  of  others.  The  rights 
of  each  have  their  root  in  the  obUgations  of  all.     This  is  the 

1  On  the  position  of  the  grown-up  daughter  in  the  modem  house, 
see  an  interesting  chapter  on  '  Filial  Relations  '  in  Miss  J.  Addams' 
book  Democracy  and  Social  Ethics,  ch.  iii. 


136  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

keynote  of  all  religious  treatment  of  the  problem  of  personal 
rights.  Religion  lays  the  foundation  of  social  order  in  the 
fulfilment  by  all  of  the  actual  relationships  in  which  they 
are  placed.  In  other  words,  the  fulfilment  of  duty  is  the 
necessary  condition  that  precedes  the  enjojrment  of  rights  ; 
and  the  very  word  '  duty  '  implies  that  as  moral  beings 
men  are  under  authority.  The  parental  claim  is  typical  of 
many  others  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  claim  of  nature — of  circum- 
stances— which  it  is  morally  ruinous  to  ignore  or  resist. 

A  father  is  the  nearest  of  '  neighbours/  that  is,  of  persons 
to  whom  we  owe  duty  and  who  therefore  in  some  sense  have 
moral  authority  over  us.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  by  analogy 
the  fifth  commandment  may  be  extended  so  as  to  include 
the  reverence  due  to  teachers  and  leaders,  rulers  and  magis- 
trates, '  spiritual  pastors  and  masters,'  etc.  But  when  we 
consider  its  position  at  the  head  of  the  second  table  of  the 
Decalogue,  we  can  scarcely  deny  that  it  has  an  even  wider 
scope  than  this.  It  implies  duties  to  the  aged  and  weak, 
the  needy  and  suffering;  to  all  whose  position  involves 
a  claim  on  our  compassion  and  service.^  Parents  in  fact 
are  specially  mentioned  as  types  of  those  to  whom  we  owe 
service.  It  is  significant  that  the  primary  precept  which 
regulates  social  duty  sets  a  positive,  not  a  negative,  standard. 
It  enjoins  the  active  fulfilment  of  a  relationship  which  is 
archetypal  and  representative.  In  '  honouring  '  our  parents 
we  virtually  confess  the  obhgation  to  '  honour '  all  men  : 
that  is,  to  serve  them  according  to  their  needs  and  claims 
to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  The  keynote  of  the  com- 
mandment in  a  word  is  service  or  ministry :   which  is  also 

1  Nicholas  de  Lyra  :  '  Secundum  doctores  nostros,  nomine  paren- 
tum  intelligitur  omnis  proximus  in  necessitate  positus  cui  est  pro- 
videndum.  Unde  dicit  Augustinus,  Pasce  fame  morientem ;  si 
non  pavisti,  occidisti.' 


THE   FIFTH  COMMANDMENT  137 

the  note  struck  by  St.  Paul  in  that  description  of  Christian 
goodness  which  emphasizes  so  clearly  its  social  character 
(Rom.  xii.),  each  using  his  special  gift  for  the  advantage 
of  the  whole  body  of  which  he  is  a  member. 

ni 

The  fifth  commandment  has  a  wider  aspect  than  that 
which  we  have  already  considered.  It  lays  down  the  prin- 
ciple of  subjection  to  authority.  It  asserts  the  obligations 
involved  in  the  earUest  human  relationship  of  which  men 
are  conscious  ;  it  implies  that,  in  the  conduct  of  life,  the 
will  of  the  individual  is  to  be  continually  guided  and  re- 
strained by  human  authority :  in  the  State  and  in  the 
Church  as  in  the  family.  Some  form  of  corporate  life  is 
the  condition  of  the  individual's  moral  development,  and 
all  corporate  life  involves  the  existence  of  authority,  the 
handing  on  of  a  tradition,  the  moulding  influence  of  custom 
and  law.  The  family,  the  State  and  the  Church  are  divine 
institutions,  powers  ordained  of  God  for  the  education  of 
the  human  race.  Their  claim  on  the  individual  is  in  reality 
the  claim  of  conscience,  that  is,  the  claim  of  a  higher  reason 
and  wider  experience  than  that  of  the  individual  himself, 
to  guide  and  control  his  conduct.  Resistance  to  authority 
is  justifiable  in  certain  circumstances,  when  it  becomes  des- 
potic and  intrusive  and  comes  into  conflict  with  other  claims 
— those  of  divine  law,  or  reason,  or  patriotism,  for  instance. 
But  in  ordinary  circumstances  authority  has  an  educational 
value  and  importance.  It  makes  a  moral  claim  on  the  in- 
dividual and  the  appropriate  response  on  his  part  is  sub- 
jection for  conscience'  sake,  willingness  to  subordinate  his 
own  ideas  and  inclinations  to  the  general  or  social  judgment, 
which  authority  practically  embodies.  ^ 

*  Cp.  Martineau,  National  Duties  and  other  Sermons,  p.  31.     '  The 


138  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

The  real  ground  of  that  deference  to  authority  which  the 
fifth  commandment  imphes  is  not  that  the  institution  or 
opinion  which  claims  our  assent  and  submission  is  ancient, 
but  that  it  has  stood  the  searching  test  of  time.  When  the 
judgment  of  antiquity  has  been  practically  endorsed  by 
the  experience  of  subsequent  generations,  it  seems  to  embody 
some  essential  law  of  human  action  *  from  which  (as  Hooker 
says)  unnecessarily  to  swerve,  experience  hath  never  as  yet 
found  it  safe.'  ^  It  may  be  said  indeed  that  we  find  it  easy 
to  submit  to  authority  in  proportion  to  the  measure  we 
possess  of  the  historical  sense.  History  has  again  and 
again  illustrated  the  disastrous  failure  of  policies  or  systems 
due  to  the  self-will  or  ingenuity  of  individuals  whose  theories 
had  not  been  tested  by  fact.  The  '  law-abiding '  tempera- 
ment is  that  of  the  man  who  is  penetrated  by  a  sense  of  the 
complexity  of  all  human  questions,  and  who  distrusts  as 
narrow  and  partial  the  judgment  of  individuals  in  regard  to 
matters  in  which  the  collective  wisdom  of  a  community  has 
hitherto  proved  itself  to  be  a  reliable  guide. 

The  very  form  of  the  fifth  commandment  indicates  the 
ideal  nature  and  character  of  authority.  Authority  appeals 
most  powerfully  to  the  individual  will  and  conscience  in 
proportion  as  it  is  not  legal  and  coercive,  but  moral  and 
parental.  Authority  has  its  seat  and  source  in  Almighty 
God,  Whom  Christ  has  revealed  as  the  Father  of  mankind  ; 
as  a  Being  Who  aims  at  educating  man  for  moral  fellowship 
with  Himself.     Christ  taught  men  to  associate  with  the 

inner  sense  of  Duty  is  presupposed  in  all  outward  definitions  and 
enforcement  of  rights  ;  and  the  ultimate  title  and  power  to  govern 
depend  on  the  ability  to  interpret  and  declare,  with  the  voice  of 
eternal  majesty,  the  verdict  and  requisitions  of  the  moral  authority 
within.' 

^  Ecd.  Polity,  v.  7.   i. 


THE   FIFTH  COMMANDMENT  139 

id^a  of  God  a  greater  love,  a  higher  wisdom  and  a  larger 
insight  than  their  own.  He  taught  them  to  believe  that 
God's  injunctions  carry  with  them  the  sanction  of  His  own 
gracious  character.  The  obedience  for  which  He  asks  is 
the  willing  and  intelligent  submission  of  sons  to  the  rule  of 
infinite  Wisdom  ;  not  merely  or  primarily  their  enforced 
subjection  to  the  rule  of  irresistible  Power. 

The  authority  of  the  Church  is  to  be  regarded  as  having 
this  moderate,  parental  character.  We  are  to  submit  to 
the  guidance  of  the  Church  because  it  represents  a  Mind 
larger  and  more  comprehensive  than  that  of  the  individual ; 
a  Mind  which  seeks,  not  to  repress  or  coerce,  but  to  mould 
the  individual  reason  and  conscience.  '  The  authority  of 
the  Church  aims  beyond  all  things  at  ennobling  and  trans- 
figuring the  man  who  submits  to  it.  .  .  .  It  must  at  all 
hazards  carry  the  subject-self  with  it.'  ^  The  same  is  the 
case,  in  due  measure  and  degree,  with  the  authority  of  the 
State.  Government  ultimately  rests  upon  the  consent  of 
the  governed.  The  aim  of  an  enlightened  government  is 
to  encourage  an  intelligent  and  wilhng  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  its  subjects  with  the  great  and  beneficent  purposes 
for  which  the  State  exists.  It  is  true  that  the  standard  of 
social  morality  which  the  State  publicly  enforces  needs  re- 
vision from  time  to  time  in  the  light  of  growing  experience ; 
but  the  weapons  by  which  defective  laws  or  institutions  are 
to  be  amended  are  not  those  of  force,  but  of  reason  and  argu- 
ment. Occasions  may  of  course  arise  in  which  resistance 
to  law,  active  or  passive,  is  justifiable  and  necessary ;  but 
the  modern  State  is  as  a  rule  amenable  to  the  pressure 
of  organized  public  opinion,  which  indeed  it  virtually 
represents. 

*  H.  S.  Holland,  Pleas  and  Claims  Jov  Christ,  p.  104. 


140  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

'  The  State,'  it  has  been  wisely  said,  '  exists  as  the  Organ 
of  Right ;  to  define,  to  adjudge,  to  execute  it,  so  far  as  the 
common  conscience  is  prepared  to  own,  and  the  common 
arm  able  to  enforce  it.  And  inasmuch  as  the  Law  of  Right 
is  the  Law  of  God,  revealed  to  the  heart  of  our  humanity, 
not  voted  into  being  by  our  self-will,  there  is  a  deeper  truth 
in  the  old  religious  reverence  for  rightful  authority  than  in 
the  modern  deference  to  a  mere  collective  human  voice.'  ^ 
The  State  accordingly  claims  our  reverence  even  while  we 
may  be  striving  by  argument  or  by  '  agitation  '  to  educate 
public  opinion,  and  so  to  secure  the  recognition  of  a  higher 
standard  of  social  justice  and  personal  liberty  than  has  yet 
been  attained.  The  fifth  commandment,  in  fact,  enjoins 
men  to  hold  in  due  honour  even  that  which  they  are  rightly 
endeavouring  to  make  a  more  perfect  instrument  of  the 
divine  righteousness.  The  contempt  for  old  and  well-tried 
ways,  the  passion  for  innovation  at  all  costs,  is  the  symptom 
of  an  essential  irreverence  and  levity  of  mind.  So  again 
the  habit  of  systematically  disparaging  great  historical 
movements  and  institutions  is  usually  the  mark  of  a  shallow 
intellect. 2  '  If  I  thought  of  the  past  with  contempt,'  says 
Dr.  R.  W.  Dale,  '  I  should  think  of  the  future  with  despair.' 
The  fifth  commandment,  then,  regulates  our  attitude  as 
Christians  towards  authority.  It  is  a  standing  protest  both 
against  the  temper  of  self-seeking  individualism  which 
ignores  the  just  claim  of  society  upon  the  service  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  against  the  spirit  of  self-will  which  refuses  to  endure 
the  discipline  involved  in  corporate  life,  or  to  be  guided  by 
the  traditional  wisdom  which  it  represents.  The  precept 
'  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  '  reminds  us  that  men 

*  Martineau,  National  Duties  and  other  Sermons,  p.  41. 
2  See  as  illustrating  this  Dean  Church's  remarks  on  W.  G.  Ward's 
book  The  Ideal  Church  in  The  Oxford  Movement,  p.  313. 


THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT  141 

find  their  true  liberty  through  loyal  and  cheerful  submission 
to  the  claims  and  requirements  of  the  divinely  appointed 
order  of  the  world. 

IV 

The  promise  annexed  to  the  commandment  deserves 
attention,  inasmuch  as  it  suggests  the  thought  that  national 
life  is  a  sacred  thing,  and  that  its  continuity  and  persistence 
plays  an  important  part  in  God's  purpose  for  mankind.  A 
complaint  frequently  raised  against  the  early  Christians 
was  that  they  were  anti-patriotic ;  and  indeed  the  primary 
consequence  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  unquestionably 
was  that  it  withdrew  men  from  the  ordinary  duties  of  citizen- 
ship and  patriotism.  The  earliest  believers  rejoiced  in  their 
deliverance  from  the  ties  which  bound  them  to  a  heathen 
society.  They  frankly  despaired  of  the  existing  social 
order,  and  were  thus  naturally  hated  and  despised  as  anti- 
social enemies  of  the  State,  or  at  least  as  shirking  in  cowardly 
fashion  the  common  tasks  of  civilization.  There  are,  how- 
ever, several  circumstances  which  explain  and  justify  this 
apparent  lack  of  public  spirit.  We  must  remember,  in  the 
first  place,  that  the  expectation  of  the  Lord's  speedy  return 
acted  powerfully  as  a  restraining  force.  The  Christians 
were  keenly  alive  to  the  moral  and  social  evils  of  their  time, 
but  they  set  their  hopes  of  regeneration,  not  on  any  econo- 
mic change  or  any  political  upheaval,  but  on  the  direct 
intervention  of  God  Himself.  They  were  popularly  regarded 
as  revolutionists,  and  certainly  they  looked  for  a  change, 
vast  and  far-reaching,  in  human  affairs  :  a  catastrophe 
which  would  assuredly  involve  the  downfall  of  the  mystic 
Babylon,  in  other  words,  the  collapse  of  the  Empire  before 
the  victorious  advance  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  They 
believed  that  social  emancipation  would  be  the  direct  con- 


142  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

sequence  of  that  reign  of  Christ  and  His  saints  on  earth 
which  was  the  supreme  object  of  their  hopes.  Very  pro- 
bably this  attitude  towards  existing  institutions  was  im- 
ported into  Christian  thought  with  the  Apocalyptic  writings, 
some  of  which  the  Church  was  able  so  readily  to  adapt  and 
to  Christianize.  In  some  instances  no  doubt  the  Christians 
actually  imbibed  that  intense  hostility  to  the  heathen  State 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  later  Judaism.  Some  few 
individuals,  indeed,  were  willing  to  take  part  in  civic  affairs, 
and  even  to  accept,  however  reluctantly,  the  costly  burden 
of  municipal  offices  ;  but  the  ascetic  view  tended  to  prevail 
that  the  service  of  the  State  was  the  service  of  Satan,  and 
that  to  quit  the  world  was  more  worthy  of  a  disciple  than 
to  have  any  part  or  lot  in  its  affairs  and  interests.  Even 
Tertullian,  who  acknowledges  ungrudgingly  the  value  of 
the  Empire  as  a  divinely  appointed  bulwark  and  safeguard 
of  social  order,  insists  on  the  necessity  for  Christians 
of  holding  rigidly  aloof  from  its  concerns.  Nobis  nulla 
magis  res  aliena  quam  puhlica  ^  he  exclaims ;  and  similar 
language  is  used  by  other  early  writers. 

Again,  we  must  take  into  account  the  antagonism  of 
the  Christian  conscience  to  the  entire  social  life  of  the 
Empire.  Like  some  modern  Socialists,  Christians  virtually 
despaired  of  society.  It  was  beyond  amendment.  Amid 
the  characteristic  vices  of  heathendom — its  greed,  its  callous- 
ness, its  pride,  its  hatred,  its  impurity,  the  Christian  ideal 

1  Tert.  Apol.  xxxviii.  This  might  be  roughly  translated  :  '  To 
us  no  wealth  is  so  little  an  object  of  concern  as  the  common-wealth.' 
Prof.  Burkitt,  The  Gospel  History  and  its  Transmission,  p.  211, 
justly  observes  that :  '  We  never  do  justice  to  the  theory  and  practice 
of  the  first  two  generations  of  Christians,  if  we  forget  even  for  an 
instant  that  there  brooded  over  them  the  shadow  of  the  anticipated 
end  of  all  things.'  The  belief  exercised  a  powerful  influence  for 
at  least  three  centuries. 


THE   FIFTH  COMMANDMENT  143 

could  only  realize  itself  through  entire  isolation  from  the 
world.  The  only  explanation  of  the  existing  condition  of 
Society — a  condition  of  which  even  the  satirist  Juvenal 
confessed  '  Every  vice  has  reached  its  zenith  ' — seemed 
to  be  that  it  was  wholly  given  over  to  the  control  of  evil 
demons.  The  most  ordinary  acts  and  ceremonies  of  civic, 
military  and  domestic  Ufe  were  connected  with  beliefs 
and  superstitions  that  were  false,  depraved  and  abominable . 
Naturally,  therefore,  the  Christians  withdrew  from  society 
and  retired  as  it  were  into  that  sphere  of  light,  love  and 
peace  which  God  had  provided  for  them  in  the  very  heart 
of  an  evil  world.  The  utmost  they  asked  of  the  State  was 
to  be  let  alone  ;  to  remain  unmolested  in  the  pursuit  of 
their  own  higher  aims.  The  utmost  they  claimed — in 
reply  to  the  charge  that  their  '  impiety  '  and  '  atheism  ' 
were  the  direct  cause  of  public  calamities  and  disasters — ■ 
was  that  by  the  purity  of  their  lives  and  by  the  efficacy 
of  their  prayers  they  were  really  serving  the  highest 
interests  of  the  Empire  which  persecuted  them.  They 
were  the  soul  of  the  State  which  kept  it  alive  :  the  salt 
which  saved  it  from  utter  decay  and  dissolution.  The 
Empire  was  a  great  and  impressive  reality ;  but  even 
its  greatness  seemed  to  Tertullian  to  be  rooted  in  evil  : 
'  Your  very  greatness,'  he  declares,  '  is  the  outcome  of 
irrehgion.'  ^ 

Once  more,  we  must  bear  in  mind  how  irresistible  and 
all-embracing  was  the  authority  of  the  Imperial  government. 
Within  certain  hmits  a  man  was  free  :    he  might  travel 

1  Apol.  XXV.  :  '  Magnitudo  de  irreligiositate  provenit.'  This 
kind  of  language  seems  to  us  a  curious  perversion  of  the  actual 
facts  of  Rome's  religious  history,  as  described  for  instance  in  Mr. 
Warde  Fowler's  remarkable  book,  The  Religious  Experience  of  the 
Roman^People. 

It 


144  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

whither  he  would  by  land  or  sea  ;  he  might  trade  and  make 
ventures  in  commerce  ;  he  might  settle  where  he  pleased  ; 
but  for  the  rest  he  must  be  content  to  submit  without 
reserve  to  the  iron  rule  of  a  despotic  administration.  It 
has  been  truly  observed  that  in  the  Roman  Empire  '  politics, 
as  we  understand  the  word,  had  no  place.'  ^  The  average 
citizen  had  no  part  in  the  making  or  administration  of  the 
law  ;  he  could  not  denounce  any  obnoxious  measure  or  any 
tax  which  pressed  hardly  upon  him.  There  was  no  possi- 
bility of  calling  a  meeting  or  starting  an  agitation  ;  it  was 
dangerous  to  display  any  active  interest  in  the  reform  or 
abolition  of  existing  institutions.  Thus,  when  we  are 
attempting  to  explain  why  the  immense  social  '  potency  ' 
of  Christianity  was  not  in  practice  more  effective,  it  is 
unfair  to  make  it  a  matter  of  reproach  to  the  Christian 
believers  of  the  first  four  or  five  centuries  that  they  merely 
shared  in  the  complete  '  political  passivity  '  of  their  con- 
temporaries. We  may  wonder  how  it  was  that  they  appar- 
ently overlooked  those  teachings  of  St.  Paul  which  contain 
the  germs  of  a  true  theory  of  the  State,  and  of  a  social  policy 
which  in  later  centuries  has  actually  achieved  such  vast 
and  beneficent  results.  But  in  any  case  the  fact  remains 
that  for  the  time  being,  at  least,  no  duty  seemed  to  be  en- 
joined in  the  New  Testament  save  that  which  necessity 
itself  dictated  :  that  of  passive  submission  to  the  authority 
of  the  State  :  of  rigid  isolation  from  the  world  and  its 
affairs.  The  Church  had  perforce  to  content  itself  with 
paving  the  way  for  those  modern  conditions  which  have 
opened  up  so  many  different  avenues  for  Christian  enterprise 
and  self-sacrifice.  It  paved  the  way  by  regenerating  indi- 
vidual lives,  by  slowly  leavening  the  tone  of  society,  and 

^  Westcott,  The  Gosp.  of  the  Resitnection,  pp.  202  foil. 


THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT  145 

by  exhibiting  in  action  the  immeasurable  greatness  and 
the  transforming  force  of  Christ-hke  love.^ 

In  process  of  time,  however,  when,  after  the  break-up 
of  the  Empire,  the  principle  of  nationality  began  gradually 
to  assert  itself,  the  Church  developed  a  sense  of  its  cathohc 
function — namely,  to  consecrate  the  special  gifts  and  excel- 
lences of  each  race  and  nation.  Thus  the  virtue  of  Patriot- 
ism came  to  be  recognized,  and  the  love  of  country  was 
seen  to  fall  in  with  the  highest  social  ideals  of  the  gospel  : 
service,  self-sacrifice  for  the  common  good,  love  seeking 
the  advantage  not  of  the  individual  but  of  the  body. 

The  converse  of  this  spirit  has  occasionally  manifested 
itself  in  modern  history.  It  has  sometimes  been  main- 
tained that  the  State  exists  exclusively  to  secure  the  rights 
of  individuals — to  guarantee  full  protection  and  liberty 
to  all  citizens  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  in  their 
competitive  struggle  for  privilege  or  wealth.  But  this 
narrow  conception  of  the  State  has  been  completely  dis- 
credited by  the  teachings  of  experience.  It  has  come  to  be 
recognized  that  the  State  exists  in  order  to  promote  and 
protect  the  social  welfare  of  all  its  members  :  to  ensure  that 
no  class  is  unfairly  hindered  from  enjoying  its  share  of  the 
common  good  or  from  contributing  its  quota  to  the  common 
tasks  of  the  community.  Loyalty  to  the  true  idea  of  the 
State  as  the  embodiment  of  public  right  and  the  common 
sense  of  justice,  in  opposition  to  the  exaggerated  claims  of 
any  one  class,  is  an  essential  part  of  obedience  to  the  spirit 
of  the  fifth  commandment.  Any  industrial  movement 
(such  as  Syndicalism)  which  ignores  the  claims  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole  in  favour  of  those  of  a   single  class  or  trade, 

1  On  all  this  subject  see  two  useful  chapters  in  W.  Rauschenbusch, 
Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  (chh.  3  and  4). 


146  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE  AND   LOVE 

which  would  destroy  the  moral  authority  of  the  State  in 
the  interests  of  a  narrow  economic  theory,  implies  an  un- 
warrantable breach  with  the  past,  due  reverence  for  which 
is,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  a  vital  element  in  the  stability 
of  national  life.  Experience  holds  out  no  prospect  of 
permanent  fruitfulness  or  advantage  to  a  policy  which  aims 
at  securing  the  interests  not  of  the  people  as  a  whole  but  of 
a  particular  class.  It  shows  that  a  kingdom  divided  against 
itself  is  brought  to  desolation.  It  teaches  that  individuals 
and  classes  exist  for  the  service  of  the  State  :  for  the  ennoble- 
ment and  enrichment  of  the  Commonwealth  to  which  they 
belong. 

In  the  fulfilment  of  this  high  function  Christian  citizens 
of  the  modern  State  are  free  and  unfettered  :  they  are  free 
to  protest  against  abuses,  to  initiate  reforms,  to  proclaim 
ideals,  to  suggest  lines  of  policy,  to  influence  legislation  by 
the  weight  of  organized  opinion.  It  is  open  to  them  to  use 
intelligently  the  privileges  of  democratic  citizenship,  and 
to  labour  by  hand  or  by  brain — by  action  or  by  counsel — 
for  the  removal  of  those  conditions  of  modern  social  life 
which  war  against  the  souls  and  waste  or  destroy  the  bodily 
lives  of  men.  To  a  Christian  eye  the  State  is  a  divine 
ordinance  for  promoting  human  well-being  in  the  widest 
sense  :  not  merely  holding  in  check  the  spirit  of  lawless- 
ness and  violence,  but  capable  also  within  limits  of  moulding 
the  habits  and  forming  the  character  of  its  citizens.  Christ- 
ians cannot,  even  were  they  so  inclined,  be  hostile  or 
indifferent  to  this  mighty  potency  of  the  State  for  good. 
They  must  needs  recognize  it  as  one  among  many  instru- 
ments which  God  employs  for  the  advancement  of  His 
kingdom  on  earth.  The  true  mission  of  the  State  is,  in 
fact,  to  protect  the  helpless,  to  uplift  the  downtrodden,  to 
overthrow  the  organizations  of  evil ;    in  a  word,  to  secure 


THE   FIFTH   COMMANDMENT  147 

for  each  individual  opportunity  to  make  the  best  of  his  Hfe. 
But  the  State  can  only  rise  to  the  height  of  its  possibiUties 
when  it  enHsts  the  services  of  all  men  of  good  will,  and 
when  it  is  inspired  by  ideals  and  principles  which  are  in 
their  origin  and  tendency  essentially  Christian.  ^ 

^The  subject  of  Authority  in  the  Church,  its  nature  and  limits, 
has  already  been  discussed  in  The  Rule  of  Faith  and  Hope,  chap, 
viii.  pp.  146-152. 


VI 

'  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder.' 


CHAPTER    VIII 
THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT 

THE  fifth  commandment  seems  to  recognize  gradations 
of  rank  and  authority  in  human  society.  The  sixth 
asserts  the  complementary  truth  of  the  equahty  of  all  men 
in  the  sight  of  God,  Who  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  The 
principle  which  underlies  the  command  to  do  no  murder 
is  reverence  for  human  nature  as  such  :  a  principle  which 
finds  its  primary  application  in  regard  to  our  own  personality 
since  '  a  man's  nearest  neighbour  is  himself.'  Self-love  is 
a  Christian  duty,  because  every  human  being  has  a  nature 
capable  of  good — capable  of  union  with  God ;  and  to  love 
our  neighbour  as  ourselves  is  to  honour  all  men,  not  for  what 
they  actually  are  in  condition  or  character,  but  for  what 
they  have  it  in  them  to  become.  For  this  reason  human 
life  is  sacred  :  any  outrage  done  to  it  is  a  kind  of  desecration 
of  the  divine  image  ;  to  protect  and  preserve  life  is  a  part 
of  natural  justice.  Accordingly,  we  may  regard  the  sixth 
and  the  three  following  precepts  of  the  Decalogue  as  claim- 
ing due  respect  for  the  inalienable  rights  of  personality: 
the  right  to  live,  and  the  right  to  enjoy  whatever  tends  to 
the  fullness  and  perfection  of  life.  Thus  marriage,  property 
and  good  name  are  alike  to  be  guarded  by  all  for  the  sake 
of  each. 

From  the  treatment  of  the  sixth  commandment  in  the 
New  Testament,  we  may  infer  that  the  reverence  for  human- 


150  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

ity  which  Christ  enjoins  takes  for  granted  two  different 
(but  not  antagonistic)  aspects  of  the  law  of  justice.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Gospel  view,  justice  means,  on  the  one  hand,  lo/e 
working  no  ill  to  his  neighbour  ;  on  the  other,  love  actively 
rendering  to  all  their  dues.  '  Justice,'  says  St.  Bernard, 
'  consists  in  two  things  :  in  harmlessness  [innocentia]  and 
beneficence ;  harmlessness  is  the  beginning  of  justice ; 
beneficence  is  its  consummation.'  i  To  abstain  from  doing 
wrong  to  another  is  the  negative  observance  of  the  command- 
ment ;  to  do  good,  to  observe  the  law  of  kindness  ^  in  every 
relationship,  is  the  positive  fulfilment  of  the  precept  as 
Christ  Himself  has  expounded  it.  Nor  must  we  forget  that 
our  Lord  exhibited  the  inner  significance  of  His  teaching 
in  action.  He  fulfilled  the  spirit  of  the  commandment  when, 
in  harmony  with  His  declaration  that  He  came  not  to 
destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save  them — He  we?it  about  doing 
good;  when  He  treated  even  outcast  sinners  with  com- 
passion and  reverence,  when  He  ministered  to  others  rather 
than  exacted  their  ministry  for  Himself.  The  strongest 
claim  that  men  as  men  have  on  our  honour  and  respect  is 
that  they  wear  that  nature  which  was  assumed  and  perfected 
in  divine  merit  by  the  Son  of  God  Himself. 

I 

Thou  shall  do  no  murder.  In  developing  the  scope  and 
meaning  of  this  commandment  our  Lord  does  not  merely 
exhibit  in  word  and  example  its  positive  aspect.  He  points 
out  that  the  essential  breach  of  the  law  consists  in  a  certain 
temper  :  a  wrong  disposition  of  mind  and  will  towards 
otliers.  Reverence  is  to  be  kept  alive  by  checking  the 
spirit  of  hatred  and  contempt.     Thus  we  find  three  different 

'  Bern.  Serm.  de  diversis,  liii.  2.     Cp.  Rom.  xiii.  7  foil. 
'  Luke  vi.   35  ;    Prov.  xxxi.   26. 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT  151 

degrees  of  anger  reproved  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ^ : 
first,  the  causeless  and  silent  resentment  which  nourishes 
unkind  and  revengeful  thoughts  ;  secondly,  anger  breaking 
forth  in  contemptuous,  reproachful  or  violent  speech.  So 
St.  Paul  excludes  revilers  {XoiSopot)  from  the  kingdom  of 
God.  To  address  a  brother-man  with  words  of  contempt 
(Raca)  is  to  forget  what  he  is, — a  being  made  in  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God ;  to  call  him  '  fool '  (in  the  full  signi- 
ficance of  the  Hebrew  term)  is  a  kind  of  imprecation,  ex- 
pressing the  wish  that  a  man  may  be  estranged  from  God. 
The  third  form  of  offence  is  anger  cherished  in  the  mind 
and  allowed  to  become  a  settled  habit  of  hatred  and  enmity. 
This  (our  Lord  implies)  is  a  barrier  which  shuts  the  soul 
out  from  divine  acceptance.  It  separates  from  God.  So 
St.  John  teaches :  He  that  hateth  his  brother  is  in  the 
darkness  and  walketh  in  the  darkness.  Whosoever  hateth  his 
brother  is  a  murderer.  He  that  loveth  not  abideth  in  death.^ 
Characteristic  of  Christian  Ethics  is  the  transfiguration 
of  anger.  Resentment,  as  Bishop  Butler  reminds  us  in 
a  famous  sermon,  is  a  necessary  element  in  worthy  human 
character.  It  has  its  rightful  objects ;  it  serves  a  great 
social  function.  Our  Lord  Himself  once  at  least  looked 
round  on  His  hearers  with  anger  because  of  the  hardness 
of  their  hearts.^  Righteous  anger  means  active  hostility 
to  evil,  especially  to  those  forms  of  evil  which  are  hurtful 
to  others  or  to  the  community.  It  has  value  as  giving 
to  the  wrongdoer  a  foretaste  of  the  future  consequences 
of  sin.  The  display  of  anger  is  a  means  of  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  divine  process  of  judgment  and  retribution. 
We  have  spoken  in  another  connexion  of  the  divine  anger ; 

1  Matt.  vi.  21-26.     Cp.  I  Cor.  vi.  9,  10. 

2  I  John  ii.  II  ;  iii.  14,   15.     Cp.  Gen.  iv.  14  (of  Cain)  :  '  From 
thy  face  shall  I  be  hid.'  3  Mark  iii.  5. 


152  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

that  relentless  and  essential  hostility  to  evil  which  necessi- 
tates an  objective  Atonement  for  human  sin.  This  is  an 
aspect  of  religious  truth  which  is  uncongenial  to  the  modern 
mind.  A  shallow  and  optimistic  view  of  sin  and  its  conse- 
quences renders  men  insensible  to  the  terrors  of  the  divine 
wrath ;  they  attribute  to  God  Himself  the  same  '  languid, 
unmeaning  benevolence  '  with  which  they  themselves  mini- 
mize or  palliate  wrongdoing. ^  In  a  highly  civilized  society 
people  are  apt  to  offend  quite  as  much  by  the  absence  of 
resentment,  as  by  its  misdirection.  They  are  usually 
intolerant  of  that  which  hurts  their  prejudices,  interferes 
with  their  comfort  or  reproves  their  faults  ;  while  they  pas- 
sively acquiesce  in  social  arrangements  which  tend  to 
destroy  men's  lives  and  to  dishonour  God  ;  in  conventions 
of  society  which  involve  a  continual  violation  of  divine 
laws. 

II 

Resentment,  then,  has  a  social  function  to  fulfil  in  human 
life.  '  The  forfeiture  of  good-will  by  the  wrongdoer  is  the 
natural  defence  of  Right  among  men  ;  and  to  tamper  with 
it  is  to  imperil  an  essential  security  of  the  moral  life.'  ^ 
To  lack  resentment  altogether  is  a  fatal  flaw  in  character ; 
to  restrain  its  action  when  a  grave  wrong  has  been  done 
to  others — some  act  of  barbarity  or  oppression,  some  flagrant 
perversion  of  justice,  some  selfish  refusal  to  render  a  neces- 
sary service — may  involve  faithlessness  not  only  to  a  man's 
own  conscience  but  to  the  higher  interests  of  human  society. 
But  the  practical  question  for  most  people  is  what  should 
be  their  attitude  in  regard  to  the  common  sins  and  imper- 

*  Newman,  Parochial  and  Plain  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  no.  23. 
2  Martineau,   Types  of  Ethical  Theory,  ii.  201. 


THE   SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  153 

fections,  which  in  themselves  or  others  constitute  '  trials 
of  temper,'  and  are  matter  of  everyday  experience.  We  are 
'  provoked  '  continually  by  the  perversity,  wrong-headed- 
ness,  stupidity  and  carelessness  of  others  :  and  this  state 
of  things  constitutes  a  real  discipline  of  the  passion  which 
we  call  anger.  We  must  not  forget,  indeed,  that  the 
tendency  to  anger  is  not  infrequently  a  mere  infirmity — 
a  symptom  of  disease  or  of  over-strained  nerves,  and  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  is  excusable.  But  anger,  sometimes  in  its  mildest 
forms,  and  often  in  its  outrageous  excesses,  is  closely  con- 
nected with  other  sins :  pride,  envy,  intemperance,  or 
the  love  of  gain.  It  is  to  be  attacked  at  the  root  by  prac- 
tising, in  all  spheres  of  conduct  alike,  the  habit  of  self- 
command  :  in  speech,  in  recreation,  in  work,  in  the  common 
intercourse  of  social  life.  Again,  the  example  of  the  Saviour 
in  His  Passion  teaches  us  that  prayer  for  others  is  a  means 
of  subduing  anger.  Prayer  is  an  act  by  which  we  commit 
the  injury  done  to  us  to  Him  that  judgeth  righteously.  It 
places  us  in  a  new  attitude  towards  the  offender,  suggesting 
the  thought  of  his  needs  rather  than  of  his  faults.  Finally, 
we  may  remember  that  vehement  anger  against  another 
is  incompatible  with  a  due  consideration  of  our  own  faults. 
In  expounding  the  ninety-first  psalm  {Qui  habitat)  St. 
Bernard  says  :  '  the  dragon  here  mentioned  (verse  13)  I  take 
to  be  the  spirit  of  anger.  How  many  persons  of  seemingly 
virtuous  life  have  been  scorched  by  the  breath  of  this 
dragon  and  have  become  his  victims  !  How  much  more 
wisely  would  they  have  been  angry  with  themselves  and 
so  avoided  sin  !  Certainly  anger  is  a  natural  affection  in 
man,  but  to  those  who  abuse  nature's  good  gift  it  is  a  terrible 
cause  of  ruin.  Let  us  employ  it  in  ways  that  are  useful, 
lest  it  break  forth  in  ways  that  are  unprofitable  and  lawless. 
...    Be  not  angry  with  those  who  take  away  from  you 


154  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

transitory  possessions,  who  insult  you,  or  torment  you 
and  beyond  that  can  do  nothing.  I  will  show  you  with 
whom  you  ought  to  be  angry.  Be  angry  with  that  which 
alone  can  do  you  real  injury — I  mean  your  own  sin.  For 
no  adversity  will  harm  you  if  no  iniquity  rule  in  you.  He 
who  is  duly  indignant  with  sin,  is  not  disturbed  by  aught 
else ;  nay,  he  rather  welcomes  it.  He  is  prepared  for 
discipline,'  etc.i  In  other  words,  the  proper  object  of 
anger  is  not  mere  infirmity  or  poverty  of  character,  but 
sin  as  such,  especially  our  own.  Yet  even  in  regard  to 
our  own  sin,  we  have  to  beware  of  self-contempt  or  self- 
disgust.  We  have  to  be  patient  even  with  our  own  faults 
and  not  give  way  to  faithless  despondency  on  the  score  of 
our  continual  failures.  We  must  reverence  in  ourselves, 
as  in  others,  the  image  of  God  :  that  '  coming  self  '  which 
can  be  realized  only  by  [continual  dependence  upon  the 
divine  grace.  In  regard  to  the  infirmities  of  others  our 
Lord  Himself  has  exhibited  the  supreme  pattern  of  forbear- 
ance. Of  Him,  the  true  High  Priest  of  humanity,  we 
read  that  He  can  hear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and  erring 
for  that  He  Himself  also  is  compassed  with  infirmity.'^  The 
beautiful  Greek  word  here  used  is  a  peculiar  one  :  its  root 
idea  is  control  of  every  passionate  impulse,  especially  of 
anger.  It  impUes  that  blending  of  grief,  pity  and  holy 
displeasure  which  is  ideally  the  right  feeling  of  the  human 
soul  in  its  relation  to  the  faults  and  ignorances  of  mankind. 
The  word  has  been  happily  described  as  containing  a  kind 
of  summary  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel.  The  Ufe  of  Christ  was  that 
of  '  One  Who,  in  presence  of  the  ignorant  and  wandering, 
maintained   that   exquisite   equilibrium   of   feeUng   which 

1  Bern,  in  Psalm.  '  Qui  habitat,'  xiii.  5. 

2  Heb.  V.  2.     The  Greek  word  here  in  question  is  fieTpi(maOtiv, 
on  which  see  Westcott. 


THE   SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  155 

was  at  once  just  and  sweet,  strong  and  gentle  '  ^  :  full  of 
tenderness  for  weakness  and  poverty  ;  full  of  compassion 
for  the  sinner,  yet  not  without  severity  in  judging  of  his 
fault.  It  is  the  heart  of  the  High  Priest  that  breathes  the 
prayer.  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do  :  the  heart  which  sees  divine  possibilities  even  in  the 
worst,  and  which  can  unerringly  discern  the  exact  measure 
as  of  their  guilt  so  of  their  misfortune.  I^  is  this  '  feeling 
in  moderation  '  which  we  need  in  judging  of  the  faults  and 
infirmities  of  mankind.  There  is  something  more  than 
practical  wisdom  in  the  saying,  '  In  order  to  love  mankind 
we  must  not  expect  too  much  of  them.'  It  was  one  secret 
of  Archbishop  Fenelon's  extraordinary  spiritual  power  and 
attractiveness  that  he  habitually  acted  upon  the  truth  of 
this  maxim.  Shortly  before  his  death  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
'  I  ask  little  from  most  men  ;  I  try  to  render  them  much, 
and  to  expect  nothing  in  return,  and  I  get  very  well  out 
of  the  bargain.'  ^  Very  characteristic  too  is  a  similar 
remark  in  another  of  his  letters  :  '  Overladen  as  we  are 
with  our  own  faults,  we  are  sensitive  and  impatient  to- 
wards those  of  our  neighbour.  We  can  often  do  more  for 
other  men  by  correcting  our  own  faults  than  by  trying  to 
correct  theirs.'  By  cultivating  such  a  spirit  as  this,  anger 
is  transformed  :  free  from  bitterness  and  excess,  from  con- 
tempt and  cruelty,  it  *  becomes  charity  and  duty ' ' : 
neither  lightly  nor  wantonly  aroused,  and  restrained  in  its 
outflow  by  the  spirit  of  compassion  and  by  zeal  not  for 
revenge  but  for  justice  and  truth. 

Ill 

In  connexion  with  the  sixth  commandment  the  question 

1  Abp.  Alexander,  Leading  Ideas  of  the  Gospels,  p.  8. 

2  See  Moxley,^ Aphorisms,  p.  49.  3  gp,  j_  Taylor. 


T56  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

is  sometimes  raised,  even  in  the  present  day,  whether  war 
is  lawful  under  any  circumstances,  and  whether  capital 
punishment  is  justifiable.  These  more  or  less  academic 
questions  do  not  seem  to  demand  prolonged  discussion. 
We  must  remember  that  the  very  people  which  was  brought 
into  the  bond  of  the  covenant  ^  by  being  subjected  to  the 
moral  law  of  the  Decalogue,  was  allowed  to  wage  war  in 
self-defence  upon  surrounding  nations,  and  was  strictly 
required  to  punish  certain  offences  with  death.  War  is 
ultimately  attributable  to  human  sin,  as  St.  James  points 
out  2 :  but  as  things  actually  are,  the  right  to  wage  war  is 
a  necessary  weapon  of  government,  which  is  charged  with 
the  protection  of  its  subjects  against  wanton  aggression 
and  violence.  2  Barrow  puts  the  case  simply  and  forcibly  : 
'  He  hath  not  forbid  sovereigns  (in  case  of  necessity  and 
when  amicable  means  will  not  prevail)  to  maintain  the 
safety  or  welfare  of  the  societies  committed  to  their  care, 
even  by  armed  violence,  against  such  as  wrongfully  invade 
them  or  any  wise  harm  them,  and  will  not  otherwise  be 
induced  to  forbear  doing  so  ;  in  which  case  the  resolution 
of  such  differences  (insomuch  as  they  cannot  be  tried  at 
any  other  bar  or  composed  by  other  means)  is  referred  to 
God's  arbitrement  :  Who  is  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  Sovereign 
Protector  of  right  and  Dispenser  of  success  ;  the  soldier 
in  a  just  cause  being  then  His  minister  and  carrying  a  tacit 
commission  from  Him.'  The  function  of  the  soldier  is 
analogous  to  that  of  the  civil  officer  of  justice  :  in  relation 
to  the  crimes  and  acts  of  violence  by  which  one  nation  assails 

^  Ezek.  XX.  37.  2  jas.  iv.   i. 

^  Turretin,  Inst,  theol.  elenct.  xi.  '  De  lege  Dei,'  xxii.  6  :  '  Eo  ipso 
quo  Christus  Magistratus  dominationem  non  sustulit,  sed  confir- 
mavit ;  eo  ipso  etiam  jus  belli  gerendi  approbavit,  cum  ad  Magistra- 
tum  pertineat  subditos  ad  versus  injustam  violentiam  defendere.' 


THE   SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  157 

another  war  is  in  the  last  resort  the  only  available  means  of 
repression  and  self-defence.  It  is  one  of  the  essential  rights 
of  human  society  in  its  natural  state :  an  institution 
which,  like  many  others,  Christianity  accepts  as  a  dreadful 
necessity,  while  at  the  same  time  it  strives  to  prevent  the 
causes  of  war,  to  mitigate  its  calamitous  effects,  and  to  bring 
about  a  state  of  international  amity  which  shall  ultimately 
render  it  impossible. 

The  question  of  the  use  of  capital  punishment,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  one  of  social  expediency  ;  but  its  lawfulness 
in  the  abstract  depends  upon  the  view  we  take  of  human 
nature.  The  death-penalty  is  not  to  be  viewed  merely 
as  a  deterrent,  by  which  human  life  is  protected,  but  as  a 
mark  of  our  reverence  for  that  mysterious  gift  of  personality 
which  constitutes  in  man  the  image  of  God.  An  outrage 
done  to  human  life  is  a  crime  which  no  human  law  can 
adequately  punish.  It  is  obviously  an  offence  against 
society  ;  but  in  a  peculiar  sense  it  is  a  sin  against  Him  of 
Whom  man  is  an  earthly  counterpart,  and  to  Whom  he  is, 
by  the  very  constitution  of  his  nature,  akin.  Capital 
punishment  is  thus  a  solemn  vindication  of  the  dignity 
of  human  nature  ;  it  appeals  primarily  to  fear  as  a  legiti- 
mate means  of  inculcating  that  reverence  which  is  the  only 
true  safeguard  of  human  life.^ 

It  scarcely  needs  to  be  pointed  out  that  the  sixth  com- 
mandment absolutely  prohibits  self-murder,  as  a  sin  against 
God  which  infringes  His  sovereign  rights  over  the  creature 
of  His  hands  ;  a  sin  against  the  State,  against  the  family, 
against  the  Law  of  Nature  itself.  Suicide  is  the  wilful 
abandonment  of  a  post  of  duty  and  of  trust,  assigned  by 
divine  wisdom  and  care  ;  but  in  its  simplest  aspect  it  is 
an  act  implying  lack  of  faith  and  hope  in  God.  Even  to 
1  Cp.  Eyton,  The  Ten  Commandments,  88-90. 


158  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

heathen  sages  it  seemed  the  part  of  wisdom  and  patience 
to  wait  for  God  Himself  to  give  the  signal  of  departure, 
and  to  release  each  soul  from  its  appointed  ministry  and 
function  in  the  world.  ^ 

IV 

In  the  earlier  portion  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  our 
Lord  devotes  Himself  to  explaining  the  relation  between 
the  new  law  of  righteousness  which  He  came  to  proclaim, 
and  the  ancient  law  which  it  was  destined  to  supersede. 
He  taught  that  the  old  law  was  to  be  regarded  with  rever- 
ence as  a  real  revelation  of  the  divine  will,  yet  with  discri- 
mination, as  a  rule  of  life  which  was  in  itself  imperfect, 
adapted  primarily  to  the  requirements  of  a  primitive  age 
in  human  history,  and  only  finding  its  completion  and 
fulfilment  in  the  New  Testament.  To  illustrate  His  meaning 
he  takes  three  commandments  of  the  Decalogue  in  order 
to  elucidate  their  inner  significance  and  intention  :  the 
sixth,  the  seventh  and  the  third.  He  shows  that  the 
characteristic  mark  of  Christian  morality  is  '  inwardness  '  : 
in  other  words,  the  habit  of  keeping  steadily  in  view  the 
presence  and  will  of  the  unseen  God,  whether  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  our  relationships  to  others  or  in  the  discipline  and 
development  of  our  own  nature.  In  moral  action,  it  is 
the  will,  the  motive,  the  intention  alone  that  matters. 
Every  thought  and  word  and  action  is  to  be  directed  God- 
ward,  and  is  to  be  judged  in  the  light  of  His  will.  The 
one  object  of  life  is  to  be  that  of  pleasing  God  ^ :  any  lower 

1  See  the  discussion  in  Turretin,  ubi  sup.,  xvii.  23,  24. 

2  I  Thess.  iv.  i.  Col.  i.  10  ;  cp.  Rom.  viii.  8  ;  i  Cor.  vii.  32.  Notice 
the  contrast  between  the  use  of  apco-Kos,  dpeo-Kcia  in  Christian 
and  Pagan  Ethics.  See  Dean  Church,  Bacon  (in  '  English  Men 
of  Letters'),  p.  3. 


THE   SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  159 

standard  of  life  than  this  is  ultimately  fatal  to  sincerity 
and  strength  of  character.  The  Christian  should  in  all 
things  be  aware,  consciously  or  subconsciously,  of  the 
presence  of  Him  Who  seeth  in  secret.  In  fact,  the  perfect 
morahty  is  '  Theocentric'  God  is  all  in  all ;  His  will  is 
the  standard  of  conduct ;  His  approval,  the  reward  ;  His 
love,  the  motive  power.  Accordingly  our  Lord  deals  with 
each  of  the  three  commandments  above  named  on  a  prin- 
ciple which,  as  we  have,  seen,  applies  to  aU  the  others  ;  a 
principle  which  we  may  fairly  say  determines  the  difference 
between  sin  and  vice.  When  we  call  an  act  '  sinful '  we 
are  judging  it  not  merely  with  reference  to  the  standard 
prevalent  in  human  society,  but  in  the  light  of  the  moral 
judgment  of  God.  We  call  an  act  of  vice  '  sinful '  because, 
beyond  and  apart  from  all  its  material  and  earthly  conse- 
quences to  ourselves  or  to  our  fellow-men,  it  is  an  offence, 
a  dishonour,  an  outrage  done  to  God  Who  seeth  in  secret. 

In  the  chapter  which  foUows  this  exposition  of  the  inner 
significance  of  the  Decalogue  (St.  Matt,  vi.)  our  Lord  pro- 
ceeds to  speak  of  three  great  departments  of  practical 
religion  :  our  duty  to  our  neighbour,  to  ourselves,  and  to 
God  :  to  each  of  which  branches  of  conduct  there  corre- 
sponds one  special  and  typical  form  of  action.  We  dis- 
charge our  duty  to  our  neighbour  by  almsgiving ;  to  our 
own  personahty  by  fasting  ;  to  God  by  prayer ;  and  each 
of  these  we  are  exhorted  to  practise,  not  that  we  may 
challenge  the  attention  of  men  or  win  their  approval,  but 
simply  with  a  view  to  what  our  heavenly  Father  would 
have  us  be  and  do  in  His  sight.  It  does  not  seem  fanciful 
to  connect  our  Lord's  teaching  on  these  three  points  with 
His  exposition  of  the  three  typical  commandments  dealt 
with  in  the  preceding  passage.  The  ideal  fulfilment  of  the 
sixth  commandment  implies  the  habit  of  almsgiving  in  its 

M 


i6o  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

widest  sense  ;  the  seventh  commandment,  rightly  under- 
stood, enjoins  that  spiritual  discipline  of  the  whole  per- 
sonality of  which  fasting  is  the  divinely  appointed  means  ; 
the  third  commandment  teaches  the  duty  of  constantly 
recognizing  in  all  the  affairs  of  life  the  presence  and  the 
providence  of  God  ;  and  this  is  virtually  the  meaning  of 
prayer,  which  has  been  simply  defined  as  '  an  elevation 
of  the  mind  to  God,'  or  (in  the  words  of  St.  Augustine) 
conversio  cordis  ad  Eitm.^ 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  on  the  close  connexion  that  subsists 
between  the  practical  duties  enjoined  in  the  sixth  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel.  These  three  practices  are  mani- 
festly elements  in  the  perfect  character.  You  cannot 
rightly  call  a  man  '  good  '  who  conspicuously  fails  in  any 
one  of  them.  A  good  man  is  one  who  is  Christ-like  :  who 
follows  the  footsteps  of  Him  Who  ever  went  about  doing 
good,  Who  pleased  not  himself,  and  Whose  whole  life  on 
earth  was  inspired  and  gladdened  by  communion  with 
God.  The  life  of  active  charity  is  only  entirely  praise- 
worthy in  so  far  as  it  includes  on  the  one  hand  the  love  of 
God,  finding  its  proper  outlet  in  prayer  and  in  the  service 
of  God's  creatures  ;  on  the  other  that  discipline  of  self, 
that  spirit  of  self-denial  and  self-control,  without  which 
even  St.  Paul  felt  that  he  might  become  a  castaway.  ^  So 
conversely  '  a  life  of  prayer  is  a  life  whose  litanies  are  ever 
fresh  acts  of  self-devoting  love  ' ;  while  the  life  of  self- 
denial  should  be  inspired  and  regulated  by  a  desire  to  serve 
one's  fellow-men  and  to  minister  effectually  to  their  needs.  ^ 

1  Fr.  Baker,  Holy  Wisdom,  p.  341  ;   cp.  Aug.  de  serm.  in  Monte, 
ii.   14. 

2  I  Cor.  ix.  27.     Cp.  a  beautiful  passage  in  Robertson's  Sermons, 
vol.  iv,  p.  140. 

^  Cp.  Greg.  Mag.  de  pastorali  citra,  p.  iii.,  19  :    '  Non  enim  Deo, 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT  i6i 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  to  be  in  any  sense  com- 
plete, our  exposition  of  the  sixth  commandment  should 
include  a  brief  reference  to  the  Gospel  teaching  on  the 
subject  of  Almsgiving.  We  naturally  think,  first,  of  the 
comprehensiveness  of  the  term.  Almsgiving  means  the 
fulfilment  of  the  law  of  kindness  in  its  widest  sense.  It 
includes  all  works  of  mercy  done  either  to  the  bodies  or 
the  souls  of  men.  We  have  noticed  already  how  promi- 
nent is  the  place  assigned  in  our  Lord's  teaching  to  the 
second  table  of  the  Decalogue  :  to  our  duty  towards  man. 
We  remember,  too,  that  in  the  solemn  judgment-scene  of 
St.  Matthew  xxv.  31  foil.,  the  standard  by  which  human 
character  is  tested  is  the  observance  or  neglect  of  the  law 
of  brotherly  kindness.  Forasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  the 
least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  unto  Me. 

Our  Lord  also  says  something  as  to  the  motive  of  alms- 
giving. We  are  to  give  alms,  that  is,  to  show  mercy  and 
lovingkindness  up  to  the  full  measure  of  opportunity,  in 
order  that  we  may  be  true  children  of  our  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.^  Almighty  God  gives  to  all  men  simply,  St.  James 
tells  us  ;  He  makes  His  sun  to  rise  upon  the  evil  and  the 
good ;  but  He  does  not  give  indiscriminately  in  the  sense 
that  He  gives  without  regard  to  the  highest  welfare  of  His 
beneficiaries.  We,  too,  in  imitation  of  Him,  are  to  bestow 
alms  '  simply  '  :  not  merely  with  a  generous  recognition 
of  our  brother's  need,  but  with  a  single  eye  to  his  real  good  ; 
with  compassion  for  his  difficulties,  a  large  allowance  for 
his  faults,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  restore  his  self-respect 
and  to  improve  his  character.  It  is  a  truism  to  say  that  the 
life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  one  of  active  love.     He  lived  on 

sed  sibi  quisque  jejunal,  si  ea  quae  ventri  ad  tempus  subtrahit, 
non  egenis  tribuit.' 

1  Matt.  V.  45.     Cp.  Jas.  i.  5  ;    Rom.  xii.  8. 


i62  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

terms  of  friendship  with  evil  men  as  well  as  good.  He 
received  sinners  and  ate  with  them  ;  He  deigned  to  be 
called  the  Friend  of  sinners  ;  His  last  companion  on  earth 
was  a  penitent  malefactor;  and  His  express  teaching  is 
always  in  close  accord  with  His  habitual  mode  of  dealing 
with  humanity  :  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,  He  says  ;  Do 
good  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again,  and  your  reward  shall 
he  great,  and  ye  shall  he  the  children  of  the  Highest.  The  free, 
ungrudging  bounty  of  God  is  the  law  of  His  life.  The 
eye  of  man  may  be  evil,  but  He  is  in  the  widest  sense  of 
the  word,  Good.  His  example  teaches  us  that  by  '  sim- 
plicity '  is  meant  the  endeavour  to  make  all  lovingkindness 
to  man  a  part  of  the  service  of  God.  He  does  indeed  imply 
in  one  passage  (St.  Luke  xi.  41)  that  almsgiving  may  also 
be  regarded  as  a  means  of  grace,  conferring  spiritual  benefit 
on  the  soul  of  the  giver.  This  aspect  of  it  indeed  finds  a 
prominent  place  in  the  writings  of  some  Christian  Fathers, 
just  as  it  does  in  the  practical  theology  of  the  later  Judaism, 
which  treated  almsgiving  chiefly  as  an  ordinance  by  which 
sins  might  be  purged  and  gifts  of  grace  obtained.  ^  But 
we  instinctively  feel  that  in  any  case  the  motive  of  charity 
cannot  in  the  last  resort  be  self-regarding,  even  while  we 
recognize  the  deep  truth  of  the  saying  (more  than  once 
alluded  to  by  Apostolic  writers)  .•  Charity  shall  cover  the 
multitude  of  sins — an  aphorism  which  some  have  even 
regarded  as  an  unwritten  utterance  of  our  Lord  Himself. 

But  do  we  find  in  our  Lord's  example  and  teaching  any 
sanction  for  '  indiscriminate  '  charity  ?  Some  have  actually 
thought  so,  and  have  accordingly  made  it  their  practice  to 
act  literally  on  the  precept  Give  to  him  that  asketh.  '  Give 
simply,'    says   the   ancient    Church   writer   Hermas,    '  not 

1  Cp.  Dan.  iv.  27  with  Dr.  Driver's  note  (in  '  Camb.  Bible  '). 
See  also  i  Pet.  iv.  8  and  Jas.  v.  20  with  Mayor's  note  (p.  170). 


THE  SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  163 

questioning  to  whom  you  should  give  or  not  give,  making 
no  distinction.'  The  responsibility  for  any  harm  that  may 
result  from  such  bounty  he  would  shift  from  the  giver  to 
the  receiver.  It  is  the  recipient,  he  declares,  who  is  account- 
able if  in  any  respect  he  abuses  his  benefactor's  kindness.  ^ 
But  this  teaching  is  surely  based  on  a  shallow  view  of  Christ's 
injunction.  He  possessed  exactly  what  we  lack,  namely, 
a  perfect  insight  into  human  nature  ;  a  deep  circumspection 
which  implied  a  perfect  balance  of  aU  faculties  :  reason, 
emotion  and  will.  His  act  of  charity  was  inspired  by  pity 
and  guided  by  perfect  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  with 
which  He  was  dealing.  He  '  considered '  the  poor  and 
needy  (see  Ps.  xli.  i).  He  understood  their  wants  as  we, 
with  our  limited  knowledge,  cannot.  He  looked  on  them 
as  beings  with  a  capacity  for  higher  than  bodily  satisfactions. 
He  bade  them  not  labour  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for 
that  meat  which  endureth  to  everlasting  life.  He  treated 
them  reverently,  hopefully,  wisely,  giving  them  something 
better  than  silver  and  gold  ;  bestowing  on  them  attention, 
care,  sympathy,  honour,  love.  He  dealt  with  each  needy, 
suffering,  ignorant  or  fallen  being  as  a  child  of  the  Father, 
capable  of  goodness,  capable  of  friendship  with  God.  He 
taught  us  accordingly  not  to  be  dismayed  or  repelled  by  a 
poverty  of  character  that  is  often  inevitable.  He  showed 
us  that  those  who  would  minister  to  the  infinite  needs  of 
our  stricken  humanity  must  have  learned  to  penetrate  to 
the  deep-lying  causes  of  its  age-long  sorrow.  To  have  the 
mind  of  Christ  is  to  look  out  upon  the  world  with  His  eyes, 
to  seek  inspiration  in  the  thought  of  God  and  of  His  impartial 
love  for  His  creatures,  to  cherish  in  spite  of  all  disillusion- 
ment   and    discouragement    an    unfailing   reverence     for 

^  Hermas,  mand.,  viii.  10. 


i64  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

the  nature  which  the  Son  of  God  came  to  hallow  and 
redeem. 

Christians,  then,  are  not  required  to  obey  slavishly  the 
letter  of  the  Gospel  precept  without  regard  to  present  con- 
ditions and  consequences.  1  They  are  not  only  to  have 
Christ's  example  in  view,  but  to  share  His  mind  in  all  that 
they  undertake.  What  that  mind  dictates  is  the  true  law 
for  us.  In  relieving  cases  of  distress  or  poverty  we  are  not 
to  ignore  the  teachings  of  experience.  We  are  called  to 
take  trouble  :  to  devote  pains  and  thought  to  each  individual 
case  presented  to  us  :  to  aim  at  dealing  not  so  much  with 
the  symptoms  as  with  the  causes  of  misery ;  not  merely 
with  the  sufferings  of  the  individual,  but  with  those  defects 
or  anomalies  in  the  social  system  which  crush  him  or  deprive 
him  of  his  rightful  share  of  the  common  good.  This  is  to 
give  not  only  our  money,  but  ourselves,  to  the  poor  and 
needy ;  they  have  a  claim  on  our  time,  our  consideration, 
our  thoughtful  care,  which  we  are  apt  to  evade,  sometimes 
on  the  ground  that  we  have  done  enough  when  we  have 
given  money,  sometimes  because  we  believe  the  problems 
of  poverty  to  be  so  complex  that  the  action  of  a  single  in- 
dividual is  a  matter  of  indifference. 

V 

We  have  seen  that  the  sixth  commandment  implies  the 
positive  duty  of  active  care  for  the  bodily  and  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  others.  If  it  is  primarily  a  law  of  justice,  protecting 
the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  our  fellow-men,  it  is 

1  Cp.  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  68.  2  :  '  Our  imitation  of  Him  con- 
sisteth  not  in  tying  scrupulously  ourselves  unto  His  syllables  .  .. 
To  do  throughout  every  the  like  circumstance  the  same  which 
Christ  did  .  .  .  were  by  following  His  footsteps  to  err  more  from 
the  purpose  He  aimed  at  than  we  now  do  by  not  following  them 
with  so  nice  and  severe  strictness.' 


THE  SIXTH   COMMANDMENT  165 

not  less  certainly  a  law  of  mercy  or  kindness,  enjoining  the 
fulfilment  of  all  good  offices  which  tend  to  preserve  and  to 
elevate  human  life.  For  as  Turretin  says  :  '  A  lamp  may 
be  extinguished  in  two  ways,  either  by  forcibly  blowing 
out  the  light  or  by  not  supplying  it  with  oil.  So  the  life  of 
another  is  destroyed,  either  by  violently  assailing  it,  or  by 
impiously  withholding  those  means  of  subsistence  by  which 
it  might  be  preserved.'  Thus  the  commandment  has  an 
unmistakable  bearing  upon  modern  social  problems.  The 
Gospel  is  a  message  of  salvation,  and  as  such  is  addressed 
to  the  entire  nature  of  man,  since  salvation  means  the  pre- 
servation and  exaltation  of  life,  the  liberation  of  manhood 
from  all  that  defiles,  crushes,  weakens  and  mutilates  it. 
The  Christian  Church  is  as  it  were  the  embodied  conscience 
of  the  modern  State.  So  far  as  the  State  fulfils  its  ideal 
function  it  protects  and  fosters  life  in  its  widest  sense. 

The  sixth  commandment.  Thou  shall  do  no  murder,  suggests 
the  claim  of  social  responsibility  which  is  so  apt  to  be  lost 
sight  of  amid  the  complex  conditions  of  modern  life.  It 
enjoins  upon  each  Christian  the  energetic  use  not  only  of 
money,  but  of  personal  influence,  in  striving  to  alleviate  the 
evils  of  poverty.  It  implies  that  we  are  only  true  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel  if,  in  ministering  to  human  need,  we 
consent  to  be  guided  by  the  example  of  our  Lord  and  by 
the  teachings  of  experience  ;  if  we  avail  ourselves  of  all 
that  economic  or  sanitary  or  medical  science  can  teach  in 
regard  to  the  conditions  of  bodily  and  mental  health  ;  if 
we  bring  the  pressure  of  a  strong  Christian  opinion  to  sup- 
port those  who  are  called  to  deal  directly  with  industrial 
problems,  e.g.  the  problems  of  housing,  of  health,  of  hours 
of  labour,  of  a  minimum  wage.  We  are  learning  by  bitter 
experience  that  our  national  neglect  of  these  problems  has 
meant  the  destruction  and  impoverishment  of  hfe  on  a 


i66  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

fearful  scale.  We  are  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother : 
therefore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us.  The  formidable  up- 
heavals in  the  labour  world  which  have  recently  disturbed 
the  peace  of  our  nation  are  the  natural  result  of  an  un- 
christian indifference  to  the  crying  needs  of  the  toihng 
masses  on  whose  labour  the  fabric  of  our  civilization  rests. 
By  our  present  troubles  God  is  undoubtedly  summoning  us 
as  a  nation  to  repentance,  and  is  teaching  us  that  the  great 
principle  of  Christ's  reUgion  which  we  have  ignored  to  our 
cost  is  reverence  for  human  personaHty,  for  the  image  of 
God  in  man.  The  precept  we  have  been  considering,  in 
fact,  anticipates  the  celebrated  maxim  of  Kant,  the  neglect 
of  which  has  been  the  characteristic  sin  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion :  '  Every  intelligent  being  stands  under  this  universal 
law,  never  to  employ  himself  or  others  as  a  means,  but 
always  as  an  end  in  himself.' 

It  rnust  not,  however,  be  forgotten  that  relief  of  the 
bodily  ills  of  the  suffering  poor  is  only  a  part  of  our  duty 
towards  society.  A  Christian  cannot  forget  that  a  man's 
life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he  pos- 
sesseth.  He  knows  that  the  real  root  of  human  misery  is 
sin  with  all  its  consequences ;  that  no  social  changes  can 
in  themselves  alter  those  radical  defects  in  human  nature 
which  tend  to  make  it  miserable  ;  in  a  word,  that  salvation 
means  health— but  health  not  merely  of  the  body.  It  means 
the  recovery  of  life,  dehverance  of  the  whole  nature  from 
the  evils  which  lay  waste  and  destroy  the  soul,  avarice  and 
selfishness,  sloth  and  sensuality,  envy  and  greed,  faithless- 
ness and  despair.  It  means  the  bringing  of  human  souls 
into  direct  contact  with  the  redeeming  love  and  grace  of 
Him  Who  is  Himself  the  Prince  of  Life.  It  is  to  Him  that 
we  must  come  if  we  ourselves  would  have  life,  or  impart 
it  to  our  brethren.  1 

*  John  V.  40  ;    i   John  v.   16. 


VII 

'  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.' 


CHAPTER    IX 
THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT 

PHILO  expounds  the  seventh  commandment  before 
dealing  with  the  sixth.  He  observes  that  the  pro- 
hibition of  adultery  follows  the  fifth  '  word  '  of  the  Decalogue 
because  '  adultery  is  the  greatest  of  iniquities  '  {/jieyiarov 
dSiKijadroip),  and  it  has  its  root  and  origin  in  that  love  of 
pleasure  which,  as  Aristotle  points  out,  is  an  even  baser 
principle  of  action  than  the  passion  of  anger.  This  arrange- 
ment of  the  precepts  was  perhaps  traditional  in  the  churches 
of  Egypt  and  North  Africa  ^ ;  it  is  expressly  mentioned  by 
TertuUian  in  his  treatise  de  Pudicitia,^  and  is  justified  on 
the  ground  that  adultery  is  closely  akin  to  idolatry  ;  accord- 
ingly, the  precepts  which  guard  spiritual  fidelity  and  rever- 
ence for  parents  are  fittingly  followed  by  that  which  forbids 
adultery.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  commandment  makes 
no  mention  of  particular  offences  against  purity  beyond 
that  one  which  is  most  destructive  of  the  integrity  of  family 
life,  and  most  antagonistic  to  the  well-being  of  human 
society.  Adultery  was,  in  fact,  a  crime  which,  under  the 
law  of  Moses,  was  punishable  with  death,^  while  the  Gospel 

^  The  arrangement  of  the  commandments  did  in  fact  vary  in 
different  versions.  The  Vatican  codex  of  the  Septuagint  arranges 
them  in  the  following  order  :  the  seventh,  the  eighth,  the  sixth. 
Philo's  order  is  also  that  of  Luke  xviii.  lo,  Rom.  xiii.  9 ;  cp.  Jas. 
ii.  II. 

2  Chap.  v.  3  Levit.  xx.   10. 

16» 


170  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

regards  it  as  the  heinous  profanation  of  a  great  mystery  which 
symbolizes  the  union  of  Christ  Himself  with  His  redeemed 
people. 

In  discussing  this  subject  we  may  well  consent  to  be 
guided  by  our  Lord's  own  example.  To  offences  against 
the  law  of  purity  He  scarcely  ever  alludes.  When  they  are 
obtruded  upon  His  notice  He  treats  them  with  an  austere 
and  solemn  reserve  which  is  far  more  impressive  than  the 
sternest  denunciation.  Indeed,  the  New  Testament  as  a 
whole  says  little  concerning  the  fearful  prevalence  and  ruin- 
ous consequences  of  such  sins.  There  exist,  indeed,  forms 
of  evil  which  are  perhaps  most  effectually  dealt  with  not 
only  or  chiefly  by  open  denunciation,  but  rather  by  ex- 
hibiting positively  the  glory  and  loveliness  of  that 
Christian  grace  which  excludes  them  and  puts  them  to 
shame.^ 


The  first  point  that  calls  for  attention  is  that  so  far  as 
our  Lord  deals  with  the  sin  prohibited  in  this  commandment. 
He  is  chiefly  concerned  to  proclaim  a  new  ideal  of  marriage. 
His  teaching  on  this  great  subject  is  perplexing  and  even 
unwelcome  to  the  modern  mind,  impatient  as  it  is  of  restraint 
and  control ;  it  is  sometimes  even  set  aside  as  '  impractic- 
able '  in  view  of  the  actual  moral  situation,  the  actual  pro- 
blems, which  confront  civilized  States.  But  at  least  it  is 
perfectly  clear  and  self-consistent.  Christ  unquestionably 
taught  that  marriage  is  a  union  dissoluble  only  by  death ; 
and  in  so  doing  He  excludes  any  such  anticipation  of  re- 
marriage, while  both  partners  survive,  as  might  cause  or 
aggravate  estrangement,  and  so  might  tend  to  weaken  the 

^  Cp.  Eph.  V.  12. 


THE   SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  171 

marriage-bond.  It  is  true  that  to  this  principle  of  the  in- 
dissolubihty  of  marriage  one  exception  has  been  sanctioned 
in  certain  parts  of  the  Christian  Church,  on  the  strength  of 
the  well-known  passage  (xix.  6)  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel. 
But  it  is  far  from  certain  that  this  relaxation  is  warranted 
by  the  original  text  of  the  passage  ;  nor  is  there  in  any 
case  any  sentence  in  the  Gospels  which  even  indirectly 
favours  that  extension  of  the  grounds  of  divorce  which  is  so 
impatiently  demanded  in  certain  quarters  at  the  present 
time.  It  is  evident  that  our  Lord,  in  His  references  to  the 
subject,  intended  to  set  before  His  hearers  a  positive  ideal 
of  marriage.  He  was  apparently  bent  upon  correcting 
those  lax  ideas  which  had  fostered  a  low  moral  tone  in  the 
Jewish  society  of  His  day,  and  which  had  been  the  occasion 
of  very  serious  practical  evils.  He  lifts  the  whole  subject 
on  to  the  highest  level  when  He  expressly  reviews  it  in  the 
light  of  the  divine  purpose  for  humanity.  He  insists  upon 
that  which  God  ordained  from  the  beginning.  The  law 
which  He  enunciates,  it  has  been  truly  said,  '  is  not  primarily 
intended  to  make  allowance  for  social  failures,  but  to  estab- 
lish the  principles  of  the  kingdom  of  God.'  ^  His  teaching 
wears  an  aspect  of  severity  for  the  very  reason  that  He  is 
dealing  with  moral  laws  which  men  can  only  defy  or  ignore 
at  their  peril.  He  maintains  the  sanctity  of  marriage  and 
the  integrity  of  family  life  in  the  interests  of  the  spiritual 
kingdom  which  He  came  to  found.  He  does  not  so  much 
concern  Himself  with  cases  of  social  disorder  as  with  positive 
principles  of  social  health. 

Apart  indeed  from  the  express  authority  of  Christ  there 
is  much  that  might  be  said  touching  the  danger  and  inex- 
pediency of  tampering  with  the  marriage  law  of  the  Gospel. 
The  fabric  of  European  civilization  virtually  rests  upon  the 

^  'PQd.hody,^ J esusj^hrist  and  the  Social  Question,  ch.  iii,  p.  158. 


172  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

institution  of  matrimony  as  Christianity  has  shaped  and 
purified  it  ;  and  experience  shows  that  laxity  of  view,  or  in 
other  words,  familiarity  with  the  idea  of  divorce,  is  perilous 
to  the  stability  of  the  social  order.  It  is  in  their  capacity 
as  citizens,  responsible  for  contributing  by  their  vote  and 
influence  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  community,  that 
Christians  oppose  alterations  in  the  law  of  marriage.  They 
are  alive  to  the  fact  that  causes  are  at  work  powerfully 
tending  to  undermine  the  security  of  marriage.  There  are 
economic  conditions  which  hinder  or  restrain  the  home- 
forming  instinct.  There  is  the  restlessness  of  individualism 
which  refuses  to  take  into  account  any  other  interests  than 
those  of  the  parties  personally  concerned  in  the  marriage 
contract.  There  is  a  sensitiveness  to  pain  which  overlooks 
the  permanent  welfare  of  society  in  its  compassion  for  par- 
ticular '  hard  cases  ' ;  a  dislike  of  discipline  which  revolts 
from  the  notion  that  men  and  women  are  liable  to  suffer 
the  consequences  of  their  own  heedlessness  or  misconduct. 
There  is,  finally,  the  tendency  of  much  modern  fiction  to 
invest  with  a  sentimental  and  sometimes  unhealthy  interest, 
the  failures  of  wedded  life.  How  then  are  these  causes  and 
tendencies  to  be  counteracted  ?  Not  surely  by  yielding 
to  the  pressure  of  lax  or  self-interested  opinion,  but  by  en- 
deavouring to  recall  men  to  the  true  ideal  of  marriage. 
The  hardships  and  evils  which  are  supposed  to  call  for 
legislative  interference  are  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  mar- 
riage is  contracted  lightly  and  inconsiderately,  without  any 
adequate  sense  of  its  seriousness  as  a  vocation,  as  an  educa- 
tion of  character,  as  a  social  institution  implying  duties  to 
the  community.  Nor  could  anything  be  more  perilous  to 
the  institution  of  marriage,  or  indeed  to  the  social  order 
of  which  it  forms  the  foundation,  than  the  notion  that  it  is 
to  be  regarded  as  an  experiment,  and  that  an  irksome  union 


THE   SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  173 

may  be  terminated  at  the  mere  pleasure  of  the  parties  con- 
cerned. If  marriage  is  not  a  permanent  union,  but  only  a 
temporary  contract,  the  motive  for  accepting  the  discipHne 
involved  in  wedded  life  necessarily  disappears.  As  Joseph 
Hume  says,  '  How  many  frivolous  quarrels  and  disgusts 
are  there  which  people  of  common  prudence  endeavour  to 
forget  when  they  he  under  a  necessity  of  passing  their  lives 
together  ;  but  which  would  soon  be  inflamed  into  the  most 
deadly  hatred  were  they  pursued  to  the  utmost,  under  the 
prospect  of  an  easy  separation.'  '  Nothing,'  he  adds,  '  is 
more  dangerous  than  to  unite  two  persons  so  closely  in  all 
their  interests  and  concerns  as  man  and  wife,  without  render- 
ing the  union  entire  and  total.'  ^ 

The  seventh  commandment  thus  suggests  the  duty  of 
attentively  considering  those  tendencies  in  modern  life 
which  make  for  domestic  instabihty,  the  prevalence  of  extra- 
vagant and  artificial  standard  of  hving,  the  stress  of  econo- 
mic conditions  unfavourable  to  family  life.  These  conditions 
may  be  modified  by  the  pressure  of  Christian  opinion,  by 
prudent  legislation  or  by  improved  education.  A  little 
steady  thought  will  suffice  to  convince  us  that  problems  of 
marriage  stand  in  very  close  relation  to  some  of  our  indus- 
trial troubles,  which  can  be  traced  in  the  last  resort  to  the 
'  unsocialized  desire  '  of  individuals.  It  is  perhaps  a  sense 
of  the  connexion  between  various  forms  of  social  disorder 
that  leads  St.  Paul  to  associate  sins  of  greed  or  covet ousness 
with  those  of  sensuality.  ^  Both  types  of  evil  are  in  the 
strictest  sense  anti-social ;  both  are  symptoms  of  that  in- 
dividualistic selfishness  which  is  plainly  antagonistic  to 
domestic,  civic  or  national  well-being. 

1  Essays,  no.  xviii.,  '  Of  Polygamy  and  Divorces.' 

2  I  Thess,  iv.  6  ;    i  Cor.  vi.  9,  10  ;   Eph.  iv.  19,  v.  3-5  ;   Col.  iii.  5. 


174  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

II 

It  would  be  out  of  place  in  a  brief  exposition  of  the  Deca- 
logue to  discuss  further  the  intricate  questions  connected 
with  the  institution  of  marriage  :  questions  of  social  policy, 
questions  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  questions  of  principle, 
questions  of  expediency.  It  seems  more  practical  to  call 
attention  to  the  general  idea  of  purity  which  the  seventh 
commandment  implies.  In  its  narrower  sense  purity  signifies 
the  restraint  and  discipline  of  what  is  in  itself  an  innocent 
instinct.  We  are  again  reminded  by  the  very  form  of  the 
Decalogue  of  the  fundamental  place  which  self-control  holds 
in  the  development  of  goodness.  Thou  shall  not.  The 
prohibition  is  as  it  were  an  appeal  to  the  whole  man,  bidding 
him  obey  the  true  law  of  his  nature  by  bringing  aU  his  in- 
stincts and  appetites  under  the  control  of  the  will.  Purity 
in  the  strict  sense  means  freedom,  the  freedom  of  him 
'  whose  flesh  is  controlled  by  the  law  of  his  mind,  and  the 
law  of  his  mind  subject  to  the  will  of  God.'  ^ 

The  word  '  purity,'  like  '  temperance  '  and  '  sobriety,' 
bears  in  the  New  Testament  a  much  wider  meaning  than 
is  usually  assigned  to  it.  St.  Augustine  goes  so  far  as  to 
identify  the  purity  of  heart  mentioned  in  St.  Matthew  v.  8 
with  '  singleness  '  or  '  simplicity  '  of  heart.^  It  signifies 
the  integrity  of  a  nature  which  finds  the  perfect  satisfaction 
of  all  its  desires  in  God  Himself,  and  which  is  crowned  with 
blessedness  by  the  vision  of  God.  In  the  narrower  sense, 
however,  of  freedom  from  sensual  defilement,  purity  was  a 
virtue  which  before  the  coming  of  Christ  held  at  best  a  pre- 
carious position.     That  Israel  was  not  essentially  above  the 

1  St.  Leo. 

*  '  Hoc  est  mundum  cor  quod  est  simplex  cor  '  {de  semi.  Dom. 
i.  2.  8). 


THE   SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  175 

level  of  the  rest  of  the  ancient  world  in  this  respect,  we  may 
gather  from  the  toleration  of  polygamy,  which  was  a  con- 
tradiction of  that  primal  law  of  monogamous  marriage  to 
which  our  Lord  recalled  the  Jews  of  His  own  day ;  and  also 
from  the  fact  that  grave  lapses  from  chastity  were  not  in- 
frequent in  Old  Testament  times.  These  were  often  closely 
connected  with  Israel's  inveterate  tendency  to  idolatry  ; 
the  prophets,  in  fact,  often  describe  the  apostasy  of  the 
nation  and  its  addiction  to  the  cult  of  foreign  deities  as 
'  adultery.'  As  regards  the  Gentile  world,  heathen  moral- 
ists could  inculcate  purity  of  life  only  by  appealing  to  self- 
regarding  and  prudential  motives.  They  had  no  resources 
for  taming  or  restraining  the  force  of  human  passion.  Pur- 
ity was  thus  a  virtue  which  men  despaired  of  attaining. 
Religion  itself  was  corrupted  at  the  source  ;  the  current 
mythology  was  often  a  factor  in  the  general  demoralization, 
and  in  course  of  time  the  better  elements  in  the  ancient 
religion  passed  over  into  the  Mysteries  which  actually  made 
some  appeal  to  the  consciousness  of  moral  defilement  though 
they  could  not  thoroughly  appease  it,  and  which  at  least 
bore  their  own  imperfect  witness  to  the  truth  that  a  clean 
heart  and  pure  life  were  needed  for  acceptable  approach  to 
the  Deity. 

Christianity  grappled  with  the  evil  which  was  too  strong 
for  the  heathen  world  by  re-emphasizing,  with  sanctions 
peculiar  to  itself,  the  Stoic  doctrine  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
human  body.  Seneca  had  spoken  of  God  as  '  near  us,  with 
us,  within  us,'  as  '  lodging  in  the  human  body.'  Epictetus 
reminded  men  that  they  carried  God  about  with  them, 
within  themselves,  not  realizing  that  they  were  doing  des- 
pite to  His  presence  by  impure  deeds  or  unclean  thoughts. 
But  St.  Paul  strikes  a  higher  note  when  he  speaks  of  the 
body  as  the  very  '  temple  '  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  teaches 


176  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

that  the  bodies  which  are  misused  in  sin  are  the  very  members 
of  Christ.  The  sin  of  uncleanness  indeed  outrages  that 
nature  which  the  Son  of  God  cleansed  and  hallowed  by  the 
Incarnation.  The  fleshly  substance  which  He  assumed 
and  sanctified  by  the  merit  of  His  own  divine  Person  is 
henceforth  sacred,  and  is  to  be  kept  undefded  by  the  power 
of  a  regenerated  will.  Christian  purity,  in  fact,  is  the  crown- 
ing instance  of  that  self-control  {iy/cpaT6ia)  which  is  the 
fundamental  element  in  Christian  holiness.  This  '  self- 
control  '  was  at  first  not  unnaturally  identified  with  sexual 
purity,  and  was  soon  extended  to  include  renunciation  of 
the  world  and  mortification  of  the  flesh,  i  Purity  is  the 
sustained  and  habitual  endeavour  to  bring  every  bodily 
impulse,  every  affection,  every  instinct  and  faculty  into 
subjection  to  Christ.  But  though  the  way  of  ascent  to 
purity  of  heart  lies  through  the  practice  of  '  sovran  self- 
control  '  in  all  things,  great  or  small,  -  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  its  essential  meaning  is  not  mere  abstinence 
from  fleshly  defilement,  but  the  positive  dominion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart  and  will.  Purity  is,  in  fact,  an 
element  in  that  grace  of  temperance  which  forms  part  of 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  and  as  an  endowment  of  the  Spirit 
was  perfectly  manifested  in  the  incarnate  Son  of  God. 
'  Where,'  St.  Bernard  asks,  '  is  temperance  to  be  found  if 
not  in  the  life  of  Christ  ?  Those  only  are  temperate  who 
strive  to  imitate  Him  .  .  .  Whose  life  is  the  mirror  of 
temperance.'  ^ 

Before  we  pass  on  to  consider  the  nature  of  purity  in  its 
deeper  and  more  comprehensive  sense,  it  is  fitting  to  mention 
certain  aids  and  safeguards  which  the  experience  of  Chris- 
tians has  found  serviceable. 

*  Cp.  Hamack,   The  Expansion  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.  p.   iii. 
2  J  Cpr.  ix.  2^.  3  in  Cant.  xxv.   ii. 


THE   SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  177 

First  among  these  is  the  power  of  a  hving  faith.  The 
Gospel  supphed  a  new  and  potent  motive  to  purity  in  pro- 
claiming the  sanctity  of  the  body  which  had  been  hallowed 
by  the  Incarnation  and  redeemed  by  the  Passion  of  the 
Son  of  God.  That  which  He  had  worn  as  a  vesture  and  had 
exalted  in  glory  to  the  throne  of  God  could  no  longer  be 
misused  as  an  instrument  of  sin.^  The  prominence  of  this 
idea  in  the  New  Testament  is  a  plain  proof  that  religion 
aims  at  protecting  '  the  founts  of  life  '  from  waste  or  con- 
tamination.    It  seeks  to  protect  the  young  at  an  age  when 

in  the  morn  and  liquid  dew  of  youth 
Contagious  blastments  are  most  imminent — 

when  both  body  and  spirit  are  undergoing  the  strain  in- 
volved in  physiological  changes.  It  invests  with  honour 
and  sanctity  both  the  physical  and  moral  aspects  of  wedlock. 
Christianity  is  the  religion  of  life.  It  makes  for  vitality — 
for  the  exaltation  and  enrichment  of  life.  It  sternly  dis- 
countenances any  misuse  of  the  body,  the  vigour  and  per- 
fection of  which  is  an  element  in  that  saving  health  and 
wholeness  of  human  personality  in  which  salvation  consists.^ 
The  faith  which  saves  is  in  one  aspect  a  whole-hearted  belief 
in  the  divine  purpose  to  redeem  every  element  in  our  nature — 
the  body  with  its  functions  not  less  surely  than  the  soul 
with  its  great  capacities. 

The  law  of  mortification  has  an  obvious  bearing  upon  the 
process  of  self-purification.  If  thy  right  eye  causeth  thee  to 
stumble,  pluck  it  out.  If  thy  right  hand  causeth  thee  to  stumble, 
cut  it  o§  and  cast  it  from  thee.     We  cannot  forget  that  temp- 

1  Rom.  vi.  II  foil. 

2  Cp.  the  following  petition  in  the  liturgy  of  Sarapion,  bp.  of 
Thmuis  in  Egypt  [c.  350)  :  ^dpia-ai  vyuiav  koi  oXoKXrjpinv  .  .  .  oAw 
Tw   Xaoj  Tot'Tuj. 


178  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

tation  assailed  David,  the  man  after  God's  own  heart, 
through  the  eye.^  Our  Lord  couples  with  the  wandering 
glance  the  lawless  thought  and  undisciplined  desire ;  in 
these  He  teaches  us  to  discern  the  root  of  evil ;  these  are 
equivalent  to  the  very  act  of  sin.  So  '  mortification,'  as 
Bishop  Wilson  insists,  '  must  go  further  than  the  body.'  - 
It  implies  of  course  the  use  of  some  discipline  of  the  body  : 
moderate  diet,  occasional  fasting,  and  other  wholesome 
austerities.  But  it  also  involves  constant  control  of  the 
thoughts  and  the  imagination,  watchfulness  against  the 
beginnings  and  occasions  of  evil,  the  cutting  off  of  even 
innocent  pleasures  that  are  found  by  experience  to  be  perilous 
to  purity  of  heart.  Indeed,  in  our  conflict  with  temptations 
of  the  flesh,  we  need  to  realize  the  crucial  importance  of  the 
habit  of  self-control  in  all  things  :  in  the  use  of  food,  in  the 
choice  of  books,  in  recreation  and  the  pursuit  of  enjoyment, 
above  all  perhaps  in  speech.  The  foundations  of  self- 
mastery  are  laid  in  childhood.  The  psychology  of  crime 
and  insanity  often  points  to  a  failure  early  in  life  to  gain 
self-control  in  little  things  ^ ;  it  illustrates  the  nemesis 
which,  sometimes  late  in  life,  overtakes  an  uncontrolled 
habit  of  yielding  to  moods  and  impulses,  to  importunate 
cravings  for  bodily  satisfaction  or  mental  excitement.  It 
proves  that  on  the  habits  of  youth  depend  the  far-distant 
issues  of  life,  and  that  the  whole  aim  of  moral  education 
should  be  the  discipline  and  strengthening  of  the  will. 

It  is  fitting  to  mention  in  this  connexion  the  value  of  the 
Church's  penitential  disciphne.  The  great  misery  of  sin 
against  the  seventh  commandment  is  that  in  a  special  degree 

1  2  Sam.  xi.     Cp.  2  Pet.  ii.   14. 

2  See  Sacra  Privata,  Wednesday  meditations. 

'  Newman  Smyth,  Christian  Ethics,  p.  354.  See  the  whole 
passage. 


THE   SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  179 

it  fetters  and  defiles  the  conscience :  robs  the  soul  of  self- 
respect,  of  hope,  of  simpHcity,  of  joy.  It  darkens  the  heart 
and  seals  the  lips.  It  leaves  the  soul  lonely,  outcast,  and 
wretched  in  the  sense  of  its  isolation.  No  sin  leads  so  directly 
to  hypocrisy :  to  variance  between  outward  semblance  and 
inward  reality.  Now  to  many  who  have  been  involved, 
whether  through  their  own  fault  or  that  of  others,  in  this 
kind  of  trouble,  the  ordinance  of  private  confession,  offered 
to  their  free  choice  by  the  Church,  has  brought  exactly  the 
help  and  comfort  they  need  ;  it  has  been  to  them  a  fount 
of  heahng,  peace  and  renewal.  Or  short  of  this  great  and 
blessed  aid  to  moral  recovery,  real  help  may  be  found  in 
opening  the  heart  to  some  trusted  friend  or  adviser.  In 
some  cases  one  who  is  entangled  in  this  way  is  best  advised 
to  *  open  his  grief '  to  some  wise  and  kindly  physician,  who 
can  sometimes  minister  to  a  mind  diseased  even  more 
effectually  than  a  priest.  In  any  case,  the  unburdening  of 
the  mind,  whatever  be  the  form  it  takes,  is  a  sovran  remedy 
in  dealing  with  such  evils  as  we  are  here  concerned  with. 
Of  other  aids  to  purity,  a  brief  mention  will  suffice.  The 
seventh  commandment  implicitly  prohibits  idleness,  sloth, 
extravagance  or  immodesty  in  dress  and  behaviour,  and 
all  other  forms  of  bodily  self-indulgence  which  expose  the 
soul  to  fleshly  temptation.  Nor  must  we  overlook  'the 
expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection,'  the  subtle  and  ennobling 
power  of  an  innocent  human  love : — 

Not  only  to  keep  down  the  base  in  man. 
But  teach  high  thought  and  amiable  words, 
And  courtliness  and  the  desire  of  fame, 
And  love  of  truth,  and  all  that  makes  a  man. 

This  is  indeed  only  one  aspect  of  the  truth  that  purity 
consists  not  so  much  in  emptying  the  heart  of  ilHcit  desires 


i8o  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE  AND  LOVE 

as  in  learning  to  love  aright.  Thus  everything  that  tends 
to  foster  the  love  of  God,  and  of  man  for  God's  sake,  is  a 
power  making  for  purity  of  heart.  Here  the  careful  culture 
of  the  imagination  has  its  value.  Some  will  remember  the 
passage  in  which  Plato  insists  that  the  aesthetic  faculty 
needs  a  serious  discipline  from  childhood  onwards.  In  the 
ideal  state  he  holds  that  poets  and  artists  should  be  restrained 
from  hindering  the  cause  of  true  culture  and  virtue  by 
feeding  the  imagination  of  the  citizens  with  unworthy  or 
immoral  representations.  ^  The  Christian  spirit,  while  claim- 
ing as  its  own  the  Apostolic  maxim.  All  things  arc  yours, 
regards  the  gifts  of  civilization — art,  literature,  the  drama, 
etc. — as  a  heritage  to  be  used  with  a  serious  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, not  ignoring  the  influence  of  imagination  as  a  factor 
in  the  building  up  of  character  and  in  the  formation  of 
ideals  of  life.  It  is  needless  to  speak  particularly  of  the 
power  of  ejaculatory  prayer  and  of  recollection  of  the  divine 
presence.  We  will  simply  remind  ourselves,  in  the  hour  of 
danger  and  conflict,  of  Christ's  sympathy  with  the  tempted. 
He  has  felt  the  full  pressure  of  temptation,  yet  without  sin  ; 
and  one  mighty  aid  to  purity  is  devout  recollection  of  the 
travail  which  He  underwent  in  order  to  be  made  in  all  things 
like  unto  His  brethren.  We  may  be  strengthened  and  en- 
couraged by  the  thought  that  He  watches  our  struggle,  that 
the  darkness  is  no  darkness  with  Him  ;  that  He  sits  on  the 
throne  of  grace — He,  '  the  King  of  purities,  the  First  of 
Virgins,  the  eternal  God  Who  is  of  an  essential  purity,'  - — 
ready  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted  in  their  time  of 
need,  and  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near 
unto  God  through  Him? 

The  seventh  commandment  is  primarily  intended  to  guard 
the  sanctity  of  marriage.     What  has  just  been  said  on  the 

1  Repub.  401  foil.  2  Bp.  J.  Taylor.  ^  Heb.  vii.  25. 


THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT  i^ii 

subject  of  purity  suggests  the  further  remark  that  personal 
chastity  is  the  only  true  preparation  for  wedded  life.  No- 
thing more  vitally  concerns  the  future  welfare  of  civilized 
society  than  the  diffusion  among  all  classes  of  a  higher  and 
more  serious  view  of  marriage  than  is  at  all  commonly  held. 
The  Christian  Church  holds  wedlock  in  due  honour  as  a 
solemn  and  sacred  'mystery,'  as  a  sacramental  ordinance 
which  is  to  be  reverently  approached  and  jealously  guarded 
from  even  the  least  profanation.  On  the  lowest  estimate, 
it  is  a  moral  union,  which  serves  a  social  function  of  far- 
reaching  importance.  Hooker  speaks  of  single  life  as  '  a 
thing  more  angeUcal  and  divine,'  ^  and  there  can  be  no 
question  that  in  certain  cases,  and  in  the  fulfihnent  of  certain 
kinds  of  work,  celibacy  is  a  vocation  not  to  be  declined 
\\dthout  moral  loss  to  the  worker,  and  detriment  to  his  effi- 
ciency. But  for  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  marriage  is 
the  divinely  appointed  school  of  character,  the  sphere  in 
which  personahty  is  trained  for  service  on  earth  and  for  the 
larger  ministries  of  the  life  beyond  death.  Wedded  life 
involves  a  training  in  self-control,  self-sacrifice,  patience, 
courage,  affection,  faith.  It  is  a  symptom  of  social  disease 
when  a  widespread  unwillingness  manifests  itself  to  accept 
the  discipline  of  marriage  or  to  fulfil  its  duties.  Whether 
this  is  due  to  selfish  disHke  of  responsibility,  or  fear  of 
poverty,  or  the  mere  desire  to  enjoy  a  higher  standard  of 
comfort  and  a  larger  measure  of  personal  liberty,  it  un- 

1  Eccl.  Pol.  V.  73. 1.  On  the  other  hand  Bp.  J.  Taylor  says :  '  Single 
life  makes  men  in  one  instance  to  be  like  angels,  but  marriage,  in 
very  many  things,  makes  the  chaste  pair  to  be  like  to  Christ.'  '  Mar- 
riage,' he  adds,  '  is  divine  in  its  institution,  sacred  in  its  union,  holy 
in  the  mystery,  sacramental  in  its  signification,  honourable  in  its 
appellative,  religious  in  its  employments  ;  it  is  advantageous  to 
the  societies  of  men,  and  it  is  holiness  to  the  Lord  '  (Sermon  on  '  TL>j 
Marriage  Ring  '). 


i83  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

questionably  involves  the  impoverishment  both  of  character 
and  of  social  health.  On  the  other  hand,  the  married  are 
apt  to  forget  that  '  happiness  '  is  not  the  only  or  chief  end 
of  wedlock  ;  and  that  it  was  ordained  not  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  individuals,  but  for  the  accomphshment  of  a  spiritual 
purpose  respecting  mankind  at  large.  If  men  and  women 
seek  impatiently  to  extricate  themselves  from  difficulties 
and  trials  for  which  in  many  instances  their  own  folly  and 
want  of  consideration  are  answerable,  they  need  to  be  re- 
minded that  they  are  in  danger  of  refusing  a  disciphne 
which,  bravely  accepted,  would  be  found  fruitful  in  blessing, 
personal  and  social. 

Ill 

Purity  in  the  higher  and  larger  sense  of  the  term  is  virtu- 
ally equivalent  to  simplicity  or  singleness  of  heart.  It 
springs  directly  from  a  vivid  realization  of  the  presence  of 
God.  Speaking  historically,  the  idea  of  '  purity  '  gradually 
passed  over  from  the  religious  and  ceremonial  sphere  into 
that  of  ethics  ;  the  notion  of  outward  dedication  of  a  person 
or  object  gave  way  in  process  of  time  to  that  of  inward 
integrity  and  sanctity.  Purity  in  the  wide  sense  implies 
the  dedication  of  the  will,  and  so  of  the  entire  personaUty, 
to  God ;  not  the  mere  sacrifice  of  innocent  desires,  but  the 
hallowing  of  them  ;  not  the  toilsome  effort  to  acquire  a 
single  virtue,  such  as  continence,  sobriety  or  temperance 
in  the  narrower  sense,  but  the  endeavour  to  attain  to  good- 
ness. Simplicity  or  purity  consists  in  seeking  to  please 
God  in  all  things  ;  to  accept  His  will  as  the  one  rule  of  all 
life.  The  pure  heart  is  that  which  sets  itself  continually 
to  seek  God  ;  passing  through  all  things  onwards  and  up- 
wards to  God  ;  holding  fast  to  a  single  purpose  amid  the 
bewildering  multiplicity   of  calls   and   duties,   claims  and 


THE  SEVENTH   COMMANDMENT  183 

responsibilities,  which  tend  to  dissipation  of  energy  and 
division  of  mind.  Thus  purity  imparts  to  character  that 
moral  unity  which  we  see  manifested  in  its  perfect  lustre 
in  Christ — the  unity  which  results  from  devotion  to  a  single 
end — the  love  and  service  of  God. 

It  is  this  lovely  grace  to  which  is  vouchsafed  the  promise 
of  the  vision  of  God.^  Cor  purum  penetrat  caelum  et  infer- 
num.  The  perfect  vision  which  satisfies  not  the  intellect 
only,  but  every  instinct  and  faculty  of  the  soul,  is  the  climax 
of  a  lifelong  process — the  persistent  effort  to  withdraw  the 
heart  from  all  lower  things  ;  the  concentration  of  the  entire 
nature  on  God  and  His  will.  For  purity,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  not  mere  abstinence  from  sin,  not  the  mere  cleansing  of 
the  heart  from  inordinate  or  base  desires  ;  it  is  desire  itself, 
love  itself,  directed  aright,  and  finding  in  God  its  one  ti  ue 
and  satisfying  end  and  aim.  The  pure  heart  seeks  not 
God's  gifts,  but  Himself.  It  looks  to  Him  as  the  only  ade- 
quate response  to  its  unfathomable  yearnings.  It  believes 
that  what  He  is  rather  than  what  He  gives  is  the  true  life 
of  man.     Vita  hominis,  visio  Dei. 

1  Matt.  V.  8.     Cp.  Imitatio  Christi,  ii.  4. 


VIII 

'  Thou  shalt  not  steal.' 


CHAPTER    X 
THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT 

IT  is  evident  that  this  precept  gives  a  sanction  to  the 
institution  of  private  property,  an  institution  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  an  important  factor  in  the 
development  of  personahty.  Property  is  an  instrument  by 
which  character  is  trained  and  high  service  to  mankind  is 
rendered.  For  the  right  of  any  individual  to  accumulate 
and  enjoy  it  implies  a  corresponding  duty  to  society  ;  in 
other  words,  the  right  is  limited  by  the  claims  of  the  com- 
munity. Accordingly,  while  the  commandment  of  Moses 
and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  equally  recognize  the  institution 
of  property,  they  also  imply,  though  not  with  the  same 
explicitness,  the  truth  of  two  qualifying  principles  :  the 
principle  of  stewardship  and  the  principle  of  social  soUdarity. 


I.  The  Gospel  teaches  us  to  see  in  property  not  so  much 
a  private  possession  as  an  opportunity,  an  instrument  of 
the  good  will,  a  means  of  rendering  service  to  mankind. 
It  regards  life  as  a  stewardship,  each  being  endowed  with 
some  gift  which  he  is  required  to  employ  for  the  common 
good.  Wealth,  position,  influence,  leisure,  genius — all  these 
are  bestowed  and  held  in  trust,  and  are  to  be  administered 
in  accordance  with  the  Gospel  rule  :    the  abundance  of  one 


i86  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

a  supply  for  another's  need,  i  So  that  property  is  acquired 
and  used  in  contravention  of  the  moral  law  if  its  possessor 
refuses  to  acknowledge  the  claim  of  society  upon  his  wealth. 
The  theory  of  the  medieval  canonists  was  that  labour  is  the 
sole  cause  of  wealth,  and  the  only  just  title  that  can  be 
alleged  for  its  possession.  According  to  this  view  property 
is  only  legitimately  acquired  or  held  in  so  far  as  it  is  an  ex- 
change for  service  rendered  or  the  reward  of  work  done. 
It  is  a  form  of  robbery  if  it  is  accumulated,  e.g.  by  dishonest 
trading,  by  reckless  speculation,  by  gambling,  or  by  with- 
holding from  the  labourer,  who  by  his  toil  helps  to  produce 
it,  just  and  fair  remuneration.  Thus  the  application  of 
the  commandment  in  modern  times  is  seen  to  be  very 
far-reaching.  It  presses  home  upon  each  conscience  the 
question,  '  Am  I  responsible,  in  virtue  of  my  method  of 
acquiring  wealth,  my  expenditure,  my  social  influence,  m}' 
vote,  for  a  social  system  or  policy  which  defrauds,  oppresses, 
degrades  or  crushes  any  class  of  persons  in  the  community 
to  which  I  belong  ?  '  The  employment  of  wealth  consti- 
tutes a  great  opportunity  for  growth  in  character :  it  may 
train  its  possessor  in  generosity,  self-restraint,  unselfishness, 
industry,  practical  wisdom  and  sagacity.  But  all  this  will 
depend  on  the  extent  to  which  he  recognizes  the  human 
element  in  the  industry  which  produces  his  wealth  and  ac- 
knowledges the  claim  of  the  producer  to  a  just  share  in  the 
proceeds  of  his  toil.  Thus  if  labour  be  the  only  or  the  prin- 
cipal source  of  wealth,  the  eighth  commandment  has  a 
direct  and  important  bearing  upon  the  ethics  of  industry. 
The  employer,  actively  engaged  in  organizing  the  production 
of  wealth,  owes  to  his  workpeople  a  living  wage  :  that  is, 
the  means  of  living  a  decent  human  life  morally  as  well  as 

^  2  Cor.  viii.  14.  Cp.  Greg.  Mag.,  de  pastorali  ciira,  iii.  20  :  '  Ad- 
monendi  sunt  .  .  .  ut  a  caelesti  Domino  dispensatores  se  positos 
subsidiorum  temporalium  agnoscant,'  etc. 


THE   EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT  187 

physically.  The  abstract  word  '  labour,'  which  is  so  often 
employed  as  if  it  represented  a  mere  commodity  of  the 
market,  actually  stands  for  a  multitude  of  living  men  who 
toil  and  serve,  and  are  thereby  brought  into  a  personal 
relationship  with  their  employer :  who  have  personal  rights 
corresponding  to  the  functions  which  they  discharge  in  the 
social  organism.  The  Christian  conscience  cannot  therefore 
be  at  ease  while  masses  of  human  beings  are  toiling  without 
proper  housing  or  food  or  adequate  wage  ;  in  other  words, 
without  opportunity  of  cultivating  their  highest  human 
instincts — their  intelHgence,  their  family  affections,  their 
spiritual  faculties.  It  recognizes  such  guiding  principles  of 
industry  as  these  :  that  the  business  of  man,  as  an  ethical 
being,  is  to  moralize  the  struggle  for  subsistence  ;  that  the 
due  remuneration  of  the  toiler  ought  to  be  the  first  claim 
on  the  fruits  of  industry  ;  that  no  individual  is  rightly  used 
as  a  mere  machine  orjinstrument,  but  that  each  as  a  personal 
being  is  an  end  in  himself ;  that  property  being  in  a  sense 
created  by  the  community  is  only  defensible  on  the  condition 
that  it  renders  service  to  the  community  ;  that  (in  a  word) 
all  wealth  of  whatever  description  is  subject  to  the  law  of 
stewardship  or  trusteeship. 

2.  There  is  a  second  principle  of  New  Testament  ethics 
which  virtually  presents  the  same  truth  in  another  aspect  : 
the  law  of  solidarity.  We  are  members  one  of  another,  and 
therefore  the  range  of  human  obligation  constantly  tends 
to  be  enlarged  in  different  directions.  It  extends  beyond 
the  members  of  a  man's  family  to  his  friends,  to  his  fellow- 
workers,  to  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  to  mankind 
at  large.  The  range  of  duty  is  practically  unlimited,  since 
in  a  real  sense  every  man  is  the  '  neighbour  '  of  his  fellow- 
man  :  Proximus  homini  homo. 

In  more  than  one  of  his  epistles  St.  Paul  passes  in  review 


i88  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

the  different  relationships  that  subsist  in  a  single  household 
— that  of  husband  and  wife,  that  of  parent  and  child,  that 
of  master  and  servant — and  briefly  describes  the  obliga- 
tions belonging  to  each.  We  may  remember,  however, 
that  the  family  is  '  the  unit  of  civihzation  '  ;  the  germ  of 
the  State.  Domestic  relationships  are  typical  of  those  that 
subsist  in  the  larger  social  group.  The  family  exhibits  the 
very  principles  on  which  the  political  order  is  based.  It 
provides  a  training  in  that  spirit  of  mutual  service,  and 
that  sense  of  corporate  responsibility,  which  build  up  and 
hold  together  the  fabric  of  a  nation's  life.  Thus  we  are 
bound  both  as  citizens  and  as  Christians  to  consider  the 
bearing  of  our  habits  of  life  on  the  welfare  of  the  whole  com- 
munity to  which  we  belong,  for  we  violate  the  eighth  com- 
mandment in  so  far  as  we  ignore  the  rights  and  claims  of 
others  :  especially  of  those  who  depend  upon  us,  or  minister 
in  any  way  to  our  needs.  This  implies  a  moral  thought- 
fulness  which  is  far  from  being  common  even  among  Chris- 
tian people.  How  few  consider  the  actual  conditions  under 
which  multitudes  of  our  fellow-men  are  toiling  to  produce 
the  conveniences  and  comforts  on  which  they  depend,  the 
clothes  they  wear,  the  food  they  eat,  the  fuel  which  keeps 
them  warm  and  maintains  the  national  industries.  We  are 
members  one  of  another,  and  our  aim  as  Christians  must  be 
to  secure  for  all  alike  their  rightful  share  of  social  good,  and 
to  emancipate  all  alike  from  the  conditions  which  endanger, 
degrade  and  impoverish  life. 

It  would  be  perhaps  misleading  to  single  out  particular 
duties  in  this  connexion.  We  have  touched  upon  the  general 
obligation  of  moral  thoughtfulness.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  sheer  thoughtlessness  on  the  part  of  owners  of  wealth 
is  responsible  for  a  vast  proportion  of  the  social  misery, 
dishonesty  and  fraud  which   disgraces  the  life   of  civilized 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT  189 

communities.  It  has  been  truly  observed  that  the  existence 
of  property  appears  to  increase  the  amount,  and  to  aggravate 
the  character,  of  crime  more  than  anything  else.  1  It  directly 
tends  to  produce  the  worst  faults  to  which  human  nature 
is  liable  ;  it  fosters  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  and  discontent 
which  gives  rise  to  crimes  of  greed,  fraud  and  violence. 
These  results  are  due  to  forgetfulness  that  by  the  law  of 
Christ  property  implies  not  a  multitude  of  personal  pos- 
sessions, but  a  potent  instrument  of  social  service.  The 
inequitable  distribution  of  property  has  at  many  periods  of 
history  suggested  drastic  schemes  for  forcibly  redressing  the 
evils  for  which  it  is  responsible.  But  the  real  problem  to  be 
solved  is  not  that  of  acquisition  and  accumulation ;  rather 
it  is  that  of  administration  or  use.  No  practicable  scheme 
of  altogether  abolishing  the  private  ownership  of  wealth  has 
ever  been  suggested  ;  but  if  the  production  of  wealth  can 
be  organized  on  a  human  and  ethical  basis,  if  the  instinct 
of  private  gain-getting  can  be  replaced  by  that  of  service, 
a  great  proportion  of  the  evils  which  beset  modern  industry 
will  be  mitigated  or  altogether  removed,  for  it  will  be  recog- 
nized that  wealth  is  a  trust  to  be  employed  for  the  common 
good. 

The  principles  involved  in  the  eighth  commandment 
obviously  have  a  bearing  upon  the  difficult  question  of  com- 
mercial morality.  In  trade  and  commerce,  as  in  the  ordin- 
ary social  intercourse  of  life,  the  principles  of  Christian 
ethics  hold  good.  In  the  one  sphere  as  in  the  other  action 
ought  to  be  regulated  by  the  rule  of  honesty,  justice  and 
truth.  This,  however,  is  a  subject  which  we  must  be  content 
here  merely  to  mention.  That  the  life  of  business  is  capable 
of  being  hallowed  and  made  an  instrument  of  vast  moral 
and  social  good  we  may  gather  partly  from  the  fact  that 
'  Eyton,  The  Ten  Commandments,  p.  112, 


T90  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

our  Lord  finds  in  it  lessons  and  illustrations  bearing  upon 
the  nature  and  progress  of  His  kingdom  ;  partly  from  the 
way  in  which  it  actually  trains  character  and  achieves  great 
and  beneficent  results.  Doubtless  it  involves  spiritual  and 
moral  perils  of  a  grave  kind  ;  but  the  experience  of  many 
who  are  engaged  in  commerce  and  industry  proves  that 
Christian  faith  and  rules  of  conduct  can  be  carried  into  the 
transactions  of  everyday  business.  It  is  fair,  however,  to 
suggest  that  the  difficulty  of  so  doing  is  often  attributable 
to  the  fault  of  consumers,  who  are  not  directly  interested 
in  the  business  world,  but  who  by  their  passion  for  cheap 
commodities,  and  by  their  indifference  to  the  conditions 
under  which  they  are  produced,  encourage  unscrupulous 
and  fraudulent  practices  in  trade  and  manufacture. 

II 

We  turn  now  to  the  positive  teaching  implied  in  the 
eighth  commandment. 

I.  Of  the  sense  of  obligation  we  have  already  spoken. 
The  Christian  maxim  of  social  life  is  Render  to  all  their  dues. 
The  work  of  the  Church  is  the  progressive  manifestation  of 
the  fellowship  of  mankind  in  Christ.  The  inequalities  of 
endowment,  physical  and  moral,  which  make  human  society 
what  it  actually  is,  constitute  so  many  opportunities  of 
mutual  service  and  self-sacrifice.  *  Just  so  soon  and  so  far 
as  we  regard  ourselves  and  others  in  Christ,  to  use  St.  Paul's 
phrase,  according  to  the  divine  counsel,  we  shall  strive  to 
secure  for  each  man,  as  for  ourselves,  the  opportunity  of 
fulfilling  his  part  in  a  divine  society,  for  developing  a  corres- 
ponding character,  for  attaining  in  his  measure  to  the  divine 
likeness.'  ^     As  in  the  family,  so  in  the  larger  social  order, 

1  Bp.  Westcott,  The  Incarnation  a  Revelation  of  Human  Duties, 
p.  i6. 


THE  EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT  191 

the  Gospel  would  fix  men's  attention  not  so  much  on  the 
rights  and  privileges  attached  to  their  status  in  the  com- 
munity as  on  the  vocation  which  it  involves.  This  seems  a 
very  simple  and  commonplace  principle  of  action,  but  it  is 
the  secret  of  the  difference  between  the  Christian  and  the 
non-Christian  view  of  social  problems.  In  an  ideal  state 
of  human  society  men  would  not  have  to  contend  for  their 
own  rights  ;  they  would  obtain  them  as  the  result  of  the 
fulfilment  of  duty  by  their  fellows.  St.  Augustine  points 
out  in  a  well  known  passage  that  since  the  sum  of  Christian 
ethical  doctrine  is  the  precept  of  love,  that  is,  an  earnest 
regard  for  the  claims  and  needs  of  others,  religion  is  neces- 
sarily the  great  safeguard  of  the  State,  securing  efficiency 
and  conscientious  fulfilment  of  function  by  every  individual 
and  by  every  class,  and  knitting  the  whole  community  in 
one.^ 

2.  The  commandment  includes  also  the  duty  of  diligence. 
Let  him  that  stole  steal  no  more,  but  rather  let  him  labour,  work- 
ing with  his  hands  the  thing  that  is  good.^  We  defraud  others 
if  we  fail  to  use  our  talents  and  capacities  fruitfully  and 
faithfully  ;  if  we  devote  too  much  time  to  pleasure  and 
recreation  ;  if  we  are  idle,  evading  the  tasks  and  duties  that 
belong  to  our  position,  or  misusing  the  opportunities  placed 
within  our  reach  ;  if  we  are  eager  to  grow  rich  without 
personal  toil  or  readiness  to  serve.  In  the  passage  quoted 
above,  St.  Paul  is  speaking  of  work  as  a  duty  which  man 
owes  to  his  neighbour — a  duty  which  as  a  rule  is  determined 
for  him  by  the  needs  and  claims  of  others.  But  the  obliga- 
tion and  value  of  work  lies  in  its  relation  to  the  development 
of  man's  entire  personality.  It  is  a  duty  which  he  owes  to 
God,  to  himself,  and  to  the  community.     It  is  to  be  conse- 

1  Ep.  ad  Marcellinum,  cxxxviii.   15  ;    cp.  de  civ.  Dei,  ii.   19. 

2  Eph.  iv.  28. 

o 


192  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

crated  by  spiritual  purpose  and  accepted  as  a  moral  obli- 
gation. Each  is  bound  to  use  profitably  his  special  gift  or 
talent ;  to  co-operate  as  it  were  with  God  by  toil  of  brain 
or  hand,  by  action  or  by  counsel,  for  the  extension  of  that 
regnum  hominis  which  prepares  the  way  for  the  regniim  Dei. 
Each  owes  it  to  himself  to  accept  the  discipline  of  character 
and  temperament  which  strenuous  work  involves.  More- 
over, he  is  bound  to  contribute  his  share  to  the  general  good 
of  society  :  to  fulfil  his  function,  to  take  his  part  in  the 
common  tasks  of  civilization.  The  well-being  of  all,  indeed, 
depends  ultimately  on  the  fidehty  of  each.  If  any  individ- 
ual, of  whatever  class,  shirks  his  task  or  squanders  his  special 
talent,  he  defrauds  others  of  their  due,  and  innocent  people 
reap  the  consequences  of  his  neglect.  This  is  plainly  true 
of  all  who  belong  to  the  labouring  or  professional  classes. 
But  the  obligation  presses  with  special  urgency  on  those 
who  owe  their  wealth  or  position  to  the  exertions  or  prudence 
of  others — whether  ancestors  in  the  past  or  dependents  in 
the  present.  A  man  of  rank  or  leisure  who  is  content  to 
enjoy  the  fruit  of  others'  toil  without  a  fair  return  in  service, 
or  who  uses  for  selfish  ends  wealth  which  others  have  helped 
to  create  robs  mankind.  It  is  a  serious  thought  that  to  a 
large  proportion  of  property  in  modern  times  the  maxim 
'  Property  is  robbery  '  is  literally  and  strictly  applicable. 
'  As  a  fact,'  says  a  writer  on  economics,  '  much  of  the  wealth 
of  the  rich  classes  in  modern  Europe,'  and  we  might  add  in 
America,  '  has  been  gathered  together  and  is  kept  up  by 
dreadful  deeds  of  cruelty,  extortion  and  fraud.'  ^ 

Society,  then,  rightly  claims  the  labour  of  the  man  of 
culture,  rank  or  leisure.  His  position  of  privilege  implies 
not  freedom  from  this  claim,  but  a  stronger  obligation  to 

*  C.  S.  Devas,  Groundwork  of  Economics,  §  261,  quoted  by  W.  S. 

I  illv,   Right  avr.    Wrojig,   p.    197. 


THE   EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT  193 

fulfil  it.  In  most  instances,  if  not  in  all,  he  is  indebted  for 
his  wealth  to  the  labour  of  others,  and  is  rightly  expected 
to  perform  services  corresponding  to  his  station,  whether 
educational,  social,  municipal  or  political.  '  A  gentleman,' 
writes  Isaac  Barrow  in  his  Discourses  of  Industry,  '  hath 
more  talents  committed  to  him  than  an  artisan,  and  con- 
sequently more  employment  required  of  him  :  if  a  rustic 
labourer  or  mechanic  hath  one  talent,  a  gentleman  hath 
ten  ;  he  hath  the  succours  of  parentage,  alliance  and  friend- 
ship ;  he  hath  wealth,  he  hath  honour,  he  hath  power  and 
authority,  he  hath  command  of  time  and  leisure  ;  he  hath 
so  many  precious  talents  entrusted  to  him,  not  to  be  wrapped 
in  a  napkin  or  hidden  underground ;  not  to  be  squandered 
away  in  private  satisfactions,  but  for  negotiation  to  be  put 
to  service  in  the  most  advantageous  way  in  God's  service. 
.  .  .  He  particularly  is  God's  steward,  entrusted  with 
God's  substance  for  the  sustenance  and  supply  of  God's 
family.  .  .  .  Surely  that  gentleman  is  very  blind,  and 
very  barren  of  invention,  who  is  to  seek  for  work  fit  for  him 
or  cannot  easily  discern  many  employments  belonging  to 
him  of  great  concern  and  consequence. '  ^  Even  more  appal- 
ling than  the  contrasts  of  wealth  and  poverty,  of  luxury 
and  squalor,  is  the  contrast  between  the  life  of  cultured 
ease  and  agreeable  occupation  which  is  enjoyed  by  a  com- 
paratively small  class,  and  the  life  of  exhausting,  incessant 
and  ill-requited  toil  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  millions.  To 
them  *  work,'  which  ought  to  be  an  honour,  a  joy  and  a 
moral  discipline,  is  too  often  a  weariness,  a  bond-service 
and  a  curse.  To  observe  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of 
the  eighth  commandment.  Christian  citizens  in  the  modern 
industrial  state  are  bound  to  use  their  utmost  influence  to 

^  See  Cunningham,  The  Gospel  of  Work,  pp.  40,  41,  where  this 
passage,  with  others  fiom  Barrow's  Discourses,  is  quoted. 


194  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

secure  for  the  toiling  multitudes  such  shortened  hours  of 
toil,  and  such  an  adequate  wage,  as  may  transform  their 
labour  into  a  means  of  growth  in  mental  vigour  and  grace 
of  character. 

3.  The  passage  from  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
to  which  reference  was  made  above,  ends  with  the  words  : 
that  he  may  have  whereof  to  give  to  him  that  hath  need.  The 
commandment  we  are  considering  implies  the  active  duty 
of  generosity  in  giving.  The  possession  of  wealth  offers 
manifold  facilities  for  service,  and  thus  the  question  of  ex- 
penditure, of  the  ethical  use  of  money,  naturally  suggests 
itself.  It  is  a  subject  which  may  perhaps  be  most  suitably 
dealt  with  by  briefly  reviewing  the  different  claims  involved 
in  the  various  relationships  of  life  :  the  relationship  of  a 
man  to  himself,  to  his  neighbour,  and  to  God. 

As  to  personal  expenditure,  including  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance, clothing,  the  care  of  health  and  all  that  makes  for 
mental  and  bodily  efficiency,  it  is  only  necessary  to  point 
out  the  need  of  sobriety  or  temperance.  We  have  to  ask 
ourselves  what  we  are  aiming  at  in  life  ;  what  is  really 
essential  or  desirable  for  the  development  of  our  character  ; 
and  how  we  may  render  ourselves  efficient  for  the  discharge 
of  our  special  duties  in  life.^  A  great  authority  has  told 
us  that  '  more  than  half  of  the  consumption  of  the  upper 
classes  of  society  in  England  is  wholly  unnecessary.'  ^ 
Accordingly  what  we  should  aim  at  is  simplicity.  We 
should  steadily  aim  at  becoming,  like  St.  Paul,  men  of  few 
wants  (Phil.  iv.  12),  contenting  ourselves  with  what  is  plain 
and  good  in  quality,  and  otherwise  consistent  with  the  de- 

^  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.,  v.  76.  5  :  '  They  are  blessed  in  worldly 
respects  that  have  wherewith  to  perform  sufficiently  what  their 
station  and  place  asketh.' 

2  Prof.  Marshall,  Principles  of  Economics,  vol.  i.  p.   124. 


THE  EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT  195 

mands  of  our  position  and  work.  Discretion  and  self- 
restraint  in  minor  things  will  leave  us  ampler  means  for 
obtaining  such  legitimate  '  luxuries '  as  will  heighten  the 
joy  and  grace  of  life,  and  so  promote  its  power  to  enrich, 
uplift  and  gladden  others.  Money  may  rightly  be  expended 
on  those  forms  of  recreation  which,  wisely  enjoyed,  tend  to 
elevate  a  man's  own  nature,  offer  him  new  opportunities  of 
usefulness,  and  remind  him  continually  of  the  glory  and 
goodness  of  God.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  using  the  world 
without  abusing  it ;  and  He  Who  giveth  us  richly  all  things 
to  enjoy  would  have  us  receive  His  gifts  in  the  spirit  of  thanks- 
giving. But  we  must  ever  bear  in  mind  the  continuous 
demand  that  life  makes  upon  us  for  self-control  and  definite- 
ness  of  moral  purpose ;  for  the  education  of  our  faculties 
and  the  discipline  of  our  desires. 

In  connexion  with  personal  expenditure,  however,  we 
must  recall  for  a  moment  the  fact  of  our  responsibility  as 
consumers.  Christians  should,  as  Bishop  Westcott  has 
pointed  out,  do  their  best  to '  raise  the  whole  status  and  level 
of  industry  by  sedulously  educating  themselves  to  desire 
good  things,  to  know  good  things,  and  to  look  beyond  every 
article  to  the  labour  of  all  those  who  have  helped  to  bring 
it  to  us.'  1  We  have  already  observed  that  the  passion  for 
cheapness  is  apt  to  blind  the  consumer  to  the  conditions 
under  which  articles  are  produced.  Here  is  an  opportunity 
for  the  good  use  of  personal  example  and  influence :  since 
social  betterment  depends  largely  upon  the  growth  of  a 
demand  among  consumers  that  the  articles  purchased  by 
them  shall  be  good  in  quality  and  produced  under  conditions 
which  neither  degrade  the  worker  nor  condemn  him  to  im- 
paired health  and  semi-starvation. 

1  Bp.  Westcott,  Lessons  from  Work,  p.  353. 


196  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  use  of  money 
for  purposes  of  social  service.  Every  one  is  called  to  decide 
for  himself  the  precise  direction  in  which  he  will  spend  his 
efforts.  There  is  no  lack  of  enterprises  designed  to  improve 
social  conditions.  The  housing  of  the  poor  ;  the  promotion 
of  temperance  or  education  ;  the  providing  of  recreation 
or  open  spaces  for  the  toiling  or  overcrowded  masses ;  the 
care  of  the  aged  poor ;  the  founding  of  libraries  and  social 
institutes,  of  labour  homes  and  refuges  ;  the  formation  of 
companies  to  promote  co-operative  production  and  distri- 
bution— these  are  some  of  the  fields  which  offer  oppor- 
tunities to  wealth  and  philanthropy.  We  have  already 
suggested  that  the  Christian  philanthropist  should  let  him- 
self be  guided  by  the  teachings  of  experience,  and  that 
'  almsgiving  '  should  be  adapted  to  the  special  conditions 
and  circumstances  of  each  age.^ 

Finally,  we  have  to  consider  the  claim  upon  wealth  of 
God  and  of  His  kingdom.  It  was  the  sin  of  the  rich  fool 
that  he  was  not  rich  towards  God?  It  is,  of  course,  true  that 
in  serving  mankind  we  are  rendering  to  God  His  due.  In 
the  conscientious  expenditure  of  wealth  we  are  actively 
recognizing  the  fact  of  our  stewardship.  Nevertheless, 
there  are  claims  of  religion  to  be  considered.  We  must  take 
account  of  the  great  and  urgent  needs  of  the  home  and 
foreign  mission  field  ;  of  the  spiritual  destitution  in  great 
cities ;  of  the  organizations  of  error  and  evil  which  can 
only  be  counteracted  by  the  power  of  religion.  Every 
Christian  ought  to  take  some  share  in  the  work  of  Church 
extension  at  home  and  abroad  ;  he  ought  to  do  what  lies 
within  his  reach  to  share  with  others  the  spiritual  privileges 
which  he  enjoys.     A  conscientious  man  will  devote  to  reli- 

*  See  pp.  164,  105.  2  Luke  xii.  21. 


THE   EIGHTH   COMMANDMENT  197 

gious  purposes  more  or  less  according  to  the  fluctuations  of 
his  income  and  the  number  of  primary  claims  upon  it  (e.g. 
the  maintenance  and  education  of  his  childreuj  and  the  duty 
of  making  adequate  provision  for  their  future). ^  But  at 
least  a  certain  portion  of  his  income  should  be  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  God.  It  is  the  great  danger  of  an  age  of 
widely  diffused  wealth  and  comfort  that  it  loses  the  sense 
of  spiritual  realities,  St.  Paul  bids  rich  men  counteract 
the  materialistic  temper  by  putting  their  trust  not  in  the 
dead  idol  of  riches  but  in  the  living  God,  Who  is  ever  working 
in  the  world  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  spiritual  purpose, 
and  calls  upon  His  children  to  co-operate  with  Him  in  the 
enlargement  and  perfecting  of  His  Kingdom.- 

^  The  primary  duty  of  making  provision  of  this  kind  is  impUed 
in  such  passages  as  i  Tim.  v.  8  and  2  Cor.  xii.  14. 
2  I  Tim.  vi.  17. 


IX 
'  Tkou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour.* 


CHAPTER    XI  " 

THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT 

THE  ninth  commandment,  like  the  third,  is  concerned 
with  the  use  of  the  tongue.  For  the  second  time 
we  are  reminded  of  the  mystery  and  sacredness  that  attaches 
to  the  faculty  of  speech.  Though  the  commandment 
formally  prohibits  perjury  only  on  one  particular  occasion 
— that  of  giving  testimony  in  a  court  of  justice — it  un- 
doubtedly forbids  every  variety  of  falsehood.  Truthfulness 
is  an  obligation  which  men  owe  to  one  another  as  being 
fellow-members  of  the  human  brotherhood.  Deceitfulness 
in  speech  is  in  a  real  sense  contrary  to  nature,  not  only 
because  speech  ought  ideally  to  correspond  to  the  thought 
and  intention  of  the  mind,  but  because  it  is  contrary  to  the 
truth  of  the  body  that  one  member  should  deal  falsely 
with  another.  1  Thus  in  Exodus  xxiii.  i  the  Israelite  is 
forbidden  even  to  give  currency  to  a  groundless  report, 
whether  from  thoughtlessness  or  malice. 

But  we  have  already  seen  that  truthfulness  is  a  part  of 
reverence  to  Almighty  God.  It  is  the  homage  which  we 
owe  to  the  mystery  of  His  indwelling  presence.  By  truth 
in  the  inward  parts  and  by  truth  in  the  utterance  of  the  lips 
which  corresponds  to  it,  we  are  to  reflect  the  simphcity 

1  Eph.  iv.  25.  Cp.  Aquinas,  Summa  ii.  ii*^  no.  3  concl.  :  '  Men- 
dacium  omne  est  ex  genere  suo  malum  et  peccatum,  cum  contra 
naturam  sit  men  tin.' 

199 


200  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

of  the  divine  nature.  '  The  tongues  that  have  cried  "  Holy  " 
do  Thou  dispose  to  speak  truth/  is  the  prayer  of  an  Eastern 
Liturgy.  1  'In  its  explicit  form,'  says  Dr.  Martineau, 
*  this  image  of  Moral  Right  no  longer  represents  itself  as  a 
collective  conscience  of  mankind,  or  as  an  abstract  law 
and  order,  but  lives  in  the  will  and  personality  of  God. 
Were  veracity  commended  to  men  only  by  social  affection 
and  pressure  of  opinion,  it  would  rest  within  the  limits  of 
human  relations,  and  cast  no  look  beyond.  Yet  in  all  ages 
and  nations  it  has  sought  the  temples  for  shelter,  and  rati- 
fied the  contracts  of  the  market  by  the  prayer  at  the  shrine.'  ^ 
Among  the  Jews  the  use  of  the  oath  was  invariably  regarded 
as  a  religious  act.  Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  thy  God  :  Him 
shall  thou  serve  and  shalt  swear  by  His  Name.^  We  have 
pointed  out  in  connexion  with  the  third  commandment 
that  a  solemn  oath  is  an  assertion  of  the  truth  as  in  the 
very  presence  of  God ;  falsehood  or  perjury  is  an  outrage 
done  to  His  revealed  Name.  In  the  ninth  commandment 
it  seems  that  the  claim  of  human  society  is  the  more  promi- 
nent idea.  Truth  is  regarded  in  the  earlier  precept  as  a 
duty  of  reverence  to  God ;  in  the  later  as  an  obligation  of 
charity  ;  and  this  suggests  the  possibihty  that  in  certain 
cases  truthfulness  may  have  to  yield  to  a  higher  duty, 
that  of  self-accommodation  to  the  abnormal  needs  of  (e.g.) 
children,  or  of  the  sick  and  insane.  In  such  rare  cases,  speech 
is  used  as  an  instrument  rather  than  as  an  end  ;  and  the  use 
of  deception  which  may  be  salutary  in  a  particular  instance, 
does  not  imply  any  love  or  habit  of  deceitf ulness.  ■*    Never- 

1  F.  G.  Brightman,  Liturgies  East  and  West,  p.  300.  Cp. 
Hermas,  Pastor,  mand.  iii.  2  Types  of  Ethical  Theory,  ii.  259. 

'  Deut.  vi.   13  ;    cp.  Lev.  xix.   12. 

*  See  Newman  Smyth,  Christian  Ethics,  395  foil.  ;  or  Domer, 
System  of  Christian  Ethics,  §  66. 


THE  NINTH   COMMANDMENT  201 

theless,  such  a  use  of  speech  contradicts  its  essential  nature, 
St.  Augustine  well  points  out  that  in  such  cases  of  deception 
we  do  not  praise  the  act  itself,  but  at  most  the  charitable 
intention  which  justifies  deviation  from  the  truth  ^ ;  and 
he  reminds  us  of  our  Lord's  words,  Let  your  speech  he 
Yea,  yea ;  Nay,  nay ;  and  whatsoever  is  more  than  these 
is  of  the  evil  one.^ 


It  does  not  seem  necessary  in  this  place  to  give  particular 
examples  of  harmless  deception  or  falsehood.  Most  works 
on  moral  theology  contain  discussions  of  the  question 
whether  every  falsehood  is  a  sin.  It  is  usual  with  writers 
on  the  subject  to  classify  falsehood  according  to  the  end 
aimed  at,  which  in  some  instances  may  be  actually  serviceable 
or  at  least  innocuous.  Thomas  Aquinas,  for  example,  distin- 
guishes between  falsehoods  that  are  injurious  to  another,  and 
falsehoods  that  are  intended  either  to  confer  a  benefit,  or 
merely  to  give  pleasure  ;  but  it  is  noteworthy  that  he 
regards  none  of  these  different  types  of  falsehood  as  wholly 
blameless.  '  The  injurious  lie,'  he  concludes,  '  is  a  mortal 
sin ;  the  falsehood  that  is  intended  to  be  serviceable, 
or  that  is  uttered  in  jest '  (or  '  by  way  of  comphment ')  '  is 
a  venial  sin.'  ^  These  distinctions,  however,  do  not  seem 
to  cover  what  may  be  called  the  conventional  phrases  of 
politeness,  commonly  used  in  society;  nor  do  they  take 
account  of  cases  in  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  with- 
hold information  (as  when  a  Minister  in  Parliament  is  asked 
a  question  which  in  the  public  interest  ought  not  to  be 

1  Enchiridion  ad  Lauv.  xxii.  2  Matt.  v.  37. 

3  Summa  Theologiae,  ii.  ii'*®.  no.  art.  4,  concl.  :  '  Mendacium  per- 
niciosum,  peccatum  mortale  est :  officiosum  vero  ac  jocosum  venalia 
esse  contingit.' 


202  THE   RULE   OF   LIFE   AND   LOVE 

answered).  Under  this  head  would  fall  the  obligation 
of  secrecy  imposed  on  the  clergy  by  the  '  seal  of  confession. ' 
In  all  such  cases,  in  which  the  duty  of  §|iarding  a  secret  is 
paramount,  falsehood  or  at  least  mental  reservation  may 
be  very  much  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  Silence  under  inter- 
rogation may  involve  the  betrayal  of  a  trust ;  on  the  other 
hand  the  open  profession  of  ignorance  is  not  intended 
primarily  to  deceive,  but  to  withhold  facts  that  can  only 
be  made  public  to  the  serious  injury  of  another.  At  the 
same  time  one  naturally  hesitates  to  accept  the  statement 
confidently  made  by  some  Jesuit  writers  that  our  Lord 
occasionally  availed  Himself  of  this  right  of  mental  reser- 
vation ^  ;  nor  does  it  seem  more  possible  to  accept  the  view 
of  some  ancient  theologians  that  in  at  least  one  instance 
(St.  Mark  xiii.  32)  He  '  pretended  '  not  to  know  the  truth.  ^ 
The  fact  is  that  Christian  morahsts  cannot  bring  themselves 
to  lay  down  principles  on  this  matter,  or  to  regulate,  as  it 
were,  the  duty  of  occasional  lying.  What  seems  to  be 
obviously  clear  is  that  in  proportion  to  the  goodness  of  the 
speaker's  intention,  the  guilt  of  falsehood  diminishes ;  ^ 
in  other  words,  that  falsehood  or  simulation  of  any  kind 
is  an  evil  and  contrary  to  nature,  but  may  be  justifiable 
in  cases  where  the  motive  is  simply  desire  to  fulfil  the  law 
of  charity.  The  fact  that  such  cases  now  and  then  occur 
wiU  of  itself  be  a  matter  of  sorrow  to  the  Christian  whose 
aim  is  ever  to  walk  in  the  light  as  He  Whom  he  serves  is  in 


1  Fr.  Slater  in  Principia  Theologiae  Moralis,  p.  469,  gives  the 
following  instances  :    St.  John  ii.   19,  vii.  8,  xi.   11. 

2  Such  is  the  comment  of  Cyril  of  Alexandria  on  the  passage  in 
question.  See  Dr.  A.  B.  Bruce,  The  Humiliation  of  Christ,  pp. 
366  foil. 

3  Siwiina,  ii.  ii"*.  no.  art.  2,  resp.  :  '  Patet  quod  quanto  bonum 
intentum  est  meUus,  tanto  magis  minuitur  culpa  mendacii.' 


THE   NINTH   COMMANDMENT  203 

the  light. ^  Like  the  necessity  of  taking  an  oath,  they  are  ,  ^ 
the  outcome  of  human  frailty  and  sinfulness  ;  they  must  '  J^ 
needs  occur  only  in  a  world  which  lieth_jnjh£.&vil  one}        ^'' 

II 

The  groun'3  -of  the  prohibition  contained  in  the  ninth 
commandment  lies  partly  in  the  mental  limitations,  partly 
in  the  moral  perversity,  of  average  humanity.  Men  are 
prone  to  say  what  is  false  often  as  a  consequence  of  their 
defective  power  of  judgment.  A  great  deal  of  unintentional 
perjury  committed  in  courts  of  justice  is  due  to  this  cause. 
Owing  to  an  imperfect  education,  men  can  neither  ob- 
serve accurately  nor  describe  correctly  what  they  have 
heard  and  seen,  and  thus  they  give  currency  to  statements 
which  are  in  fact  untrue.  On  the  other  hand,  people  are 
prone  through  pride  or  jealousy  to  detract  from  the  reputa- 
tion of  others,  or  even  actively  to  injure  their  good  name. 
The  motive  implied  in  the  original  Hebrew  precept  may 
be  even  lower  than  this,  for  in  its  context  the  ninth  com- 
mandment seems  to  prohibit  that  kind  of  false  witness 
which  is  deliberately  aimed  at  another's  life  or  possessions. 
This  is  also  suggested  by  a  passage  which  looks  like  an 
expansion  of  the  commandment  (Lev.  xix.  16),  Thou  shalt 
not  go  up  and  down  as  a  tale-hearer  among  thy  people  :  neither 
shalt  thou  stand  against  the  blood  of  thy  neighbour}  The 
bearing  of  false  witness  is  a  common  crime  in  the  East, 
and  in  one  historic  instance,  that  of  Naboth,  was  deliber- 
ately intended  to  have  fatal  consequences.  Hence  the 
strong  expressions  used  in  Proverbs  xxv.  18  :  A  man  that 
beareth  false  witness  against  his  neighbour  is  a  maul,  and  a 
sword,  and  a  sharp  arrow ;  and  the  severe  penalty  for 
false  witness  which  is  prescribed  in  Deuteronomy  xix.  18,  iq. 

1  I   John  i.  7.         2  J   John  v.   19.         ^  q^    Exod.  xxiii.   i. 


204  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

In  modern  times  we  have  to  take  account  of  that  tribunal 
of  public  opinion  which  is  continually  passing  judgment 
upon  the  character  and  conduct  of  men,  and  to  which  every 
one,  whether  qualified  to  do  so  or  not,  to  some  extent 
contributes.  The  value  of  such  public  opinion  varies 
according  to  the  degree  of  knowledge  and  the  moral  senti- 
ment that  lies  behind  it.  It  is  apt  to  be  led  astray  in  indi- 
vidual cases  by  ignorance  of  the  facts  necessary  for  forming 
a  complete  judgment,  and  in  matters  of  morality  it  is 
unprogressive.  It  does  not  readily  take  account  of  special 
circumstances  and  altered  conditions.  It  reflects  the  tone 
of  average  opinion,  which  is  subservient  to  fashion  in 
matters  of  conduct,  impatient  of  singularity,  and  instinctively 
suspicious  of  anything  that  tends  either  to  raise  the  preval- 
ent standard  of  morality  or  to  impugn  established  ideas  and 
beliefs.  When  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  weapons  with 
which  men  of  marked  individuality — prophets,  reformers, 
teachers — have  in  all  periods  of  history  been  assailed ; 
when  we  take  into  account  the  way  in  which  slander,  mis- 
representation, attacks  on  private  life,  imputation  of  base 
motives,  etc.,  have  been  employed  to  thwart  the  ends  of 
righteousness  and  the  cause  of  truth,  we  understand  the 
severity  of  many  New  Testament  sayings  in  regard  to  the 
misuse  of  the  tongue.  We  realize,  for  example,  that  St. 
Paul  is  justified  in  classing  detraction,  secret  slander  and 
the  tendency  to  put  an  evil  construction  upon  the  conduct 
of  another,  among  sins  of  active  malignity  and  even  of 
violence.!  We  recognize  the  essential  truth  of  St.  James' 
saying  :  The  tongue  is  a  restless  evil,  full  of  deadly  poison.^ 
For  the  misuse  of  speech  does  more  than  merely  deteriorate 
the  character  by  impairing  the  will-power  of  those  who 

^  Rom.  i.  29,  30  :   '  Full  of  envy,  murder,  strife,  deceit,  malignity, 
whisperers,  backbiters.'  »  Jas.  iii.  8. 


THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT  205 

give  way  to  it.  It  destroys  the  bond  of  mutual  confidence 
and  good-will  which  holds  human  society  together.  '  It 
destroys  and  perverts  a  certain  equity  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance to  society  to  be  observed  ;  namely,  that  praise  and 
dispraise,  a  good  or  bad  character,  should  always  be  bestowed 
according  to  desert.'  ^  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  pro- 
phet Zechariah,  desiring  to  build  up  the  restored  nationality 
of  Israel  on  a  secure  and  lasting  basis,  enjoins  his  country- 
men to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  charity  and  of  justice,  the 
virtues  and  graces  that  ennoble  civic  life.  He  closes  his 
fair  picture  of  a  renewed  and  prosperous  Jerusalem,  the 
city  of  truth,  the  peaceful  dwelling-place  of  aged  men  and 
women,  watching  joyous  children  at  their  sport — with 
the  comprehensive  precept  .  .  .  Speak  ye  every  man  the 
truth  with  his  neighbour  :  execute  the  judgment  of  truth  and 
peace  in  your  gates,  and  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your 
hearts  against  his  neighbour  ;  and  love  no  false  oath^  The 
prophet  would  have  the  citizens  of  Jerusalem  realize  that 
mutual  hatred,  strife,  unkindness  and  falsity  at  once  wreck 
the  prosperity  of  the  commonwealth  and  thwart  the  thoughts 
of  peace  which  Jehovah  cherishes  for  His  people.  Therefore 
love  truth  and  peace. 

Ill 

Following  our  usual  method  we  may  turn  to  the  positive 
teaching  of  the  ninth  commandment.  It  seems  to  gather 
up  the  lessons  which  experience  had  taught  in  regard  to 
the  power  of  the  tongue  for  good  or  evil.  The  '  Wisdom  ' 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament  is  full  of  warnings  which  in 
their  purport  anticipate  the  solemn  utterances  of  Christ 
in  St.  Matthew  xii.  34-37  and  St.  Luke  vi.  45.     Thus  in 

*  Bp.  Butler,  Sermons,  no.  iv.  :  '  Upon  the  government  of  the 
tongue.'  2  Zech.  viii.   i6,   17. 


2o6  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE   AND   LOVE 

the  Book  of  Proverbs  (xii.  14  foil.)  we  find  in  the  usual  anti- 
thetic form  descriptions  of  the  havoc  and  misery  wrought 
by  the  false  tongue,  and  the  '  health,'  healing,  comfort 
and  enlightenment  diffused  by  the  speech  of  the  righteous 
and  the  wise.^  Our  Lord  Himself  impHes  that  the  ideal 
use  of  speech  is  to  reflect  the  singleness  of  character  which 
marks  His  true  disciples.  The  Gospel  aims  at  producing 
a  certain  '  soundness  '  of  the  personality  which  enables 
it  to  act  as  an  undivided  whole,  and  to  direct  all  its  different 
faculties  to  the  fulfilment  of  a  single  end.  Out  of  the  abund- 
ance of  the  heart,  He  tells  us,  the  mouth  speaketh  (St.  Matt. 
xii.  34).  Speech  is  '  good  '  when  it  embodies  the  will  and 
moral  purpose  of  a  sound  nature.  Such  a  use  of  the  tongue 
serves  to  edify  as  the  need  may  be}  It  is  an  element  which 
purifies  and  strengthens  the  corporate  life  of  mankind. 
It  is  a  fountain  of  grace  and  spiritual  blessing.  It  knits 
closer  the  bonds  of  fellowship  ;  it  ministers  to  disease  of 
body  or  mind  ;  it  keeps  alive  the  spirit  of  kindliness,  cheer- 
fulness and  hope ;  and  all  this  because  speech  is  the  out- 
flow of  a  nature  which  in  so  far  as  it  is  '  good,'  brings  with 
it  an  atmosphere  of  moral  health.  What,  then,  are  the 
characteristics  of  that  healthful  speech  which  the  New 
Testament  enjoins  ?  ^ 

(i)  Sincerity.  The  natural  use  of  speech  is  to  reproduce 
the  exact  thought  of  the  heart.  St.  Augustine  defines 
falsehood  simply  as  a  statement  uttered  by  the  lips  at  vari- 
ance with  the  purpose  of  the  heart.*  As  we  have  already 
noticed,  St.  Paul  devotes  much  pains  on  a  certain  occasion  to 

*  Prov.  xii.   18:    '  The  tongue  of  the  wise  is  health  '  ;  cp.  xxxi.  26. 

2  Eph.  iv.  29. 

3  The  words  vyiah'oi,  vyiijs,  used  specially  in  reference  to  the 
substance  of  Christian  teaching,  are  characteristic  of  the  Pastoral 
Epistles.  *  de  mendacio,  iii. 


THE   NINTH   COMMANDMENT  207 

clearing  himself  from  a  charge  of  insincerity  :  of  not  being 
a  man  of  his  word ;  as  if  such  a  fault  were  peculiarly  un- 
worthy of  a  servant  of  Him  Who  is  Faith/ul  and  True,  and 
in  Whom  all  the  promises  of  God  are  fulfilled.^  Truthful- 
ness must  be,  in  fact,  a  habit  of  mind  and  character  before 
it  can  be  a  characteristic  of  speech.  The  single-minded 
man  is  free  from  all  inward  division  of  mind,  all  distraction 
of  aim,  all  mixed  motives.  In  everything  that  he  does  or 
says  he  is  himself.  As  he  acts  with  decision  and  directness, 
without  haunting  self-consciousness  or  the  desire  of  dis- 
play ;  so  he  speaks  without  affectation,  without  any  desire 
to  conceal  his  real  thoughts  and  purpose.  In  regard  to 
the  ordinary  fictions  of  polite  society,  we  have  observed  that 
they  are  excusable  in  so  far  as  they  are  well  understood 
to  be  the  conventional  language  of  courtesy.^  They  are 
pernicious  when  they  spring  from  excessive  eagerness  to 
please,  or  from  false  pride,  as  when  we  assent  to  a  propo- 
sition which  we  do  not  believe  to  be  true,  or  desire  to  appear 
other  than  we  are — wealthier,  or  better  educated,  or  of 
higher  social  position  than  is  actually  the  case. 

(2)  Candour  in  statement.  One  chief  effect  of  the  in- 
dwelling presence  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  His  disciples 
should  be  manifested  in  a  great  reverence  for  fact  as  fact. 
The  advance  of  science,  the  wide  diffusion  of  scientific  know- 
ledge, and  the  employment  of  exact  methods  in  all  depart- 
ments of  study,  has  taught  us  the  priceless  value  of  a  patient 
devotion  to  facts,  and  of  accuracy  in  the  representation 
of  them.     Moreover,  we  have  perhaps  learned  the  import- 

1  See  above,  p.  loi. 

2  '  Perhaps  it  has  become  conventional  to  understand  the  formula 
"  Not  at  home  "  as  meaning  "  I  am  prevented  from  receiving,  but 
wish  you  to  regard  my  refusal  not  as  if  I  had  repulsed  you,  but  as 
if  you  had  missed  me."  '     Dorner,  System  of  Christian  Ethics,  §  66.  2. 

P 


208  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

ance  of  dispassionateness  and  readiness  to  admit  new 
facts  which  conflict  with  opinions  already  formed.  The 
late  Mr.  Darwin  tells  us  that  while  collecting  material  for 
the  Origin  of  Species  he  made  it  a  rule,  whenever  a  pub- 
lished fact,  or  new  observation  came  across  him,  which  was 
opposed  to  his  general  results,  to  make  a  memorandum 
of  it  without  fail  and  at  once  ;  '  for  I  had  found  by  experi- 
ence,' he  says,  '  that  such  facts  and  thoughts  were  far  more 
apt  to  escape  from  the  memory  than  favourable  ones.'  ^ 
The  importance  of  some  such  rule  in  study  is  obvious.  In 
proportion  as  the  standard  of  knowledge  has  been  gradually 
raised,  educated  people  have  learned  to  expect  lucidity 
and  accuracy  both  in  thought  and  language ;  candour 
in  the  statement  of  facts,  and  judgments  that  are  fair  and 
well-informed.  Education,  indeed,  whether  moral  or  intel- 
lectual, has  as  one  main  object  the  training  of  the  judgment. 
As  in  the  study  of  scientific  facts,  so  in  dealing  with  human 
nature  and  character,  the  capacity  of  forming  just  and 
equitable  judgments  needs  to  be  diligently  cultivated  : 
a  task  which  involves  a  real  and  arduous  self-discipline 
and  a  resolute  desire  to  ascertain  the  exact  truth.  One 
very  common  offence  against  the  ninth  commandment 
is  the  habit  of  exaggeration,  or  as  it  has  been  called,  the 
practice  of  using  '  superlative  speech  '  on  trivial  occasions. 
It  is  a  habit  which  not  only  does  wrong  to  language  regarded 
as  the  highly  finished  and  slowly  developed  instrument  of 
thought ;  it  inevitably  tends  to  undermine  truthfulness 
of  character.  Indeed,  since  it  is  usually  associated  with 
moral    failings — vanity,    boastfulness,     querulousness.     or 

^  Life,  vol.  i,  p.  87.  Cp.  Bacon's  remark  in  the  Novum  Organon, 
i.  46  :  '  Is  humano  intellectiii  error  est  proprius  et  perpetuus,  ut 
magis  moveatur  et  excitetur  affirmativis  quam  negativis :  cum 
rite  et  ordine  aequum  se  utrique  praebere  debeat,' 


THE   NINTH  COMMANDMENT  209 

indifference  to  truth — it  is  a  much  graver  and  more  insidious 
fault  than  is  generally  recognized.  But  in  passing  judg- 
ment upon  the  character  or  doings  of  other  people,  fidelity 
to  fact  is  all-important.  In  this  case  recklessness  or  care- 
less repetition  of  hearsay  evidence  may  do  irreparable  in- 
jury to  another's  peace  of  mind  or  influence  for  good.  It 
is  well  to  remember  Bishop  Butler's  warning  that  offences 
against  the  ninth  commandment  originate  most  frequently 
in  mere  talkativeness, '  a  disposition  to  be  talking,  abstracted 
from  the  consideration  of  what  is  to  be  said  ' ;  in  other 
words,  in  the  unbridled  use  of  the  tongue  without  the 
sense  of  moral  accountability  for  our  words. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  exactness  in  the  use  of  speech 
depends  to  a  great  extent  on  training  and  education.  But 
even  more  depends  on  habitual  modesty  and  self-restraint. 
Most  of  us  have  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  more  than 
at  most  one  or  two  subjects  ;  consequently  we  ought  to 
cultivate  a  much  deeper  sense  of  our  own  ignorance  than 
we  usually  do.  All  subjects  of  human  knowledge — ^all 
topics  upon  which  men  dispute — are  complex  and  difficult, 
and  can  only  be  profitably  discussed  by  those  who  have 
some  sense  of  the  many-sidedness  of  truth.  But  when 
we  consider  how  little  any  one  knows  of  the  deep  things 
of  human  nature — we  shall  feel  it  to  be  a  kind  of  profana- 
tion to  confidently  impute  motives,  or  to  condemn  the 
actions  of  others.  Many  of  our  statements  about  other 
people  are  the  result  of  mere  inference  ;  and  in  criticizing 
their  conduct  or  character,  we  are  apt  to  mistake  mere 
surmises  and  suppositions  for  real  knowledge  of  facts. 

(3)  Charity.     The  New  Testament  enjoins  us  to  speak 
truth  in  love  ^ ;  not  to  take  account  of  evil ;   not  to  rejoice 
in  unrighteousness   but  to  rejoice  with  the  truth. ^     It  is  a 
1  Eph.  iv.  15.  21  Cor.  xiii.  5,  6. 


210  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

part  of  Christian  charity  to  propagate  the  best  report  about 
other  people  that  is  honestly  possible,  and  in  any  case  to 
take  no  pleasure  in  needlessly  repeating  anything,  however 
true  in  fact,  which  detracts  from  their  character,  or  brings 
their  faihngs  to  light.  Human  society  of  course  consti- 
tutes a  tribunal  in  which  the  process  of  judgment  is  con- 
tinually going  on,  and  no  one  can  escape  from  its  legitimate 
verdicts.  But  a  Christian  will  not  merely  take  pains  to 
refrain  from  prejudicing  this  tribunal  by  false  witness. 
He  Vvill  follow  actively  after  the  things  that  make  for  peace. 
Like  St.  Barnabas,  he  will  strive  to  bring  men  into  relation- 
ships of  kindness  with  each  other.  He  will  be  habitually 
merciful  in  his  judgments  ;  he  will  try  to  remove  mis- 
understandings ;  he  will  be  tender  to  ignorance  and  weak- 
ness ;  he  will  make  large  allowance  for  that  poverty  of 
character  which  is  so  often  the  result  of  defective  education 
or  misfortune.  '  Take  care,'  says  St.  Bernard,  '  not  to 
be  either  a  curious  investigator  of  the  behaviour  of  others, 
nor  a  rash  judge.  Even  if  you  discover  something  that 
has  been  done  amiss,  do  not  promptly  judge  your  neigh- 
bour, but  rather  excuse  him.  Excuse  his  intention,  though 
you  cannot  excuse  his  conduct ;  impute  it  to  ignorance, 
or  deception,  or  a  sudden  lapse.  Say  to  yourself,  "  The 
temptation  was  too  strong  for  him  ;  what  might  .it  aot  have 
wrought  in  my  own  case,  had  it  assailed  me  with  equal 
violence  !  "  '  i  This  seems  to  be  one  aspect  of  St.  Peter's 
maxim  (quoted  perhaps  from  the  Book  of  Proverbs),  Love 
covereth  a  multitude  of  sins.^  The  merciful  heart  cannot 
indeed  make  light  of  sin  or  conceal  its  essential  character, 
but  it  is  full  of  compassion  for  the  sinner,  and  by  reticence 

1  in  Cant.  xl.  5.   Cp.  the  saying  ascribed  to  Hillel  :  '  Judge  not 
thy  neighbour  till  thou  come  into  his  place.' 
2  I  Pet.  iv.  8  ;    cp.  Prov.  x.   12. 


THE  NINTH   COMMANDMENT  211 

as  much  as  by  forgiveness   '  covers  '  the  offence — refrains 
from  needless  exposure  of  it  or  excessive  condemnation. 

(4)  Trustworthiness_andL_fidelity.  We  are  apt  to  forget 
that  we  inflict  a  serious  wrong  on  our  neighbour  if  we  either 
fail  to  keep  engagements  and  promises,  or  if  we  betray 
their  confidence.  He  that  goeth  about  as  a  tale-bearer  re- 
vealeth  secrets  :  but  he  that  is  of  a  faithful  spirit  concealeth 
a  matter.  Fidelity  even  in  small  matters  holds  a  very 
high  place  in  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament.  Man  is 
called  to  imitate  in  his  words  and  works  the  constancy  and 
faithfulness  of  the  divine  character :  not  saying  more  than 
he  means,  nor^  promising  what  he  is  unable  to  perform  ; 
employing  speech  as  the  instrument  of  a  good  will  and  a 
generous  heart ;  refraining  from  all  pretence  of  being  what 
he  is  not,  or  knowing  what  he  knows  not ;  manifesting 
in  utterance  as  well  as  in  conduct  that  moral  and  spiritual 
purpose  which  is  the  salt  of  life  ;  above  all,  remembering 
that  for  every  idle  word  he  must  give  account  in  the  day 
of  judgment,^  and  that  those  only  who  are  merciful  in 
speech  as  well  as  in  behaviour  shall  obtain  mercy. "^ 

1  Prov.  xi.   13  ;    cp.  xx.   19. 

2  Greg.  De  past,  cura,  iii.  14  s.  fin.  :  '  Otiosum  quippe  verbum 
est,  quod  aut  ratione  justae  necessitatis,  aut  intentione  piae  utili- 
tatis  caret.' 

3  See  Jas.  ii.  12,  13. 


'  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  manservant,  nor  his  maid- 
servant, nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  anything  that  is  thy  neighbour's.' 


CHAPTER    XII 
THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT 

IN  its  form  the  tenth  commandment  is  very  primitive. 
It  bears  the  mark  of  belonging  to  the  pastoral  age 
in  the  nature  of  the  possessions  specified.  ^  The  opening 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Job  illustrates  the  way  in  which  such 
possessions  might  incite  lawless  men  to  violent  and  hostile 
attacks  on  property.  But  to  any  one  who  studies  the 
history  of  man's  spiritual  progress  this  will  appear  to  be 
the  most  comprehensive  of  all  the  Mosaic  precepts  :  that 
which  stands  out  most  prominently  above  the  general 
level  of  the  Hebrew  legislation.  In  some  sense  it  may 
be  regarded  as  the  first  and  great  commandment  of  the 
Decalogue,  inasmuch  as  it  aims  at  regulating  desire,  which, 
when  unrestrained,  is  the  principle  of  human  sin  ;  when 
rightly  directed,  is  love — the  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

The  precept  thus  touches  the  very  root  of  all  the  offences 
in  word  or  deed  which  are  prohibited  in  the  first  nine  com- 
mandments. As  St.  James  points  out  in  his  profound 
analysis  of  sin,  sin  is  the  offspring  of^  desire  {emOviJLia)  ', 
and  the  moral  life  consists  in  a  progressive  restraint,  educa- 
tion and  consecration  of  desire.  Love  means  desire  sancti- 
fied and  directed  aright.  Indeed,  the  true  Christian's 
entire  life   may   be   described   as   aspiration — holy   desire. 

1  We  have  already  observed  that  the  precept  seems  to  have 
originally  ended  with  the  word  '  house,'  the  rest  being  added  by 
way  of  expansion.     Cp.  Job  i.   15,   17. 

213 


214  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

Tola  vita  Christiani  boni  sanctum  desiderium  est,  says  St. 
Augustine.^  The  Christian  is  one  who  desires  much,  expects 
much,  hopes  for  much  ;  for  he  sets  before  himself  nothing 
less  than  the  attainment  of  the  divine  pron^ises,  the  fulfil- 
ment in  him  of  the  divine  purpose.  His  life-long  prayer 
is  that  he  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God.^  He 
is  in  short  '  a  man  of  desires  '  {vir  desideriorum)  .^  A  con- 
tinual desire,  an  ardent  thirst  for  the  living  God — is  the 
very  soul  of  religion ;  it  constitutes  the  motive  power  of 
active  morality  ;  it  is  the  raw  material,  so  to  speak,  out 
of  which  the  habit  of  virtue  is  formed  : — 

'  For  giving  me  desire, 
An  eager  thirst,  a  burning  ardent  fire, 

A  virgin  infant  flame, 
A  love  with  which  into  the  world  I  came, 
An  inward  hidden  heavenly  love 
Which  in  my  soul  did  work  and  move. 

And  ever,  ever  me  inflame 
With  restless  longing,  heavenly  avarice. 
That  never  could  be  satisfied. 
That  did  incessantly  a  Paradise 

Unknown  suggest,  and  something  undescried 
Discern,  and  bear  me  to  it ;  be 
Thy  Name  for  ever  praised  by  me  !  * 

If  the  one  all-sufficient  object  of  man's  desire  is  God, 
covetousness  means  the  misdirection  of  desire ;  desire 
seeking  apart  from  God,  that  is  in  created  objects,  the 
satisfaction  for  which  it  longs.     The  tenth  commandment 

^  Aug.  in  ep.  Joan,  ad  Parth  [i   John]  iv.  6. 

2  Eph.  iii.   19.  3  Dan.  x.   11,  Vulg. 

*  T.  Traherne  (d.  1674), '  Desire  '  in  Poetical  Works.  Cp.  the  close 
of  Bp.  Ken's  exposition  of  the  Tenth  Commandment  in  The  Practice 
of  Divine  Love  :  '  Forgive  me,  O  my  God,  if  I  am  unmeasurably 
ambitious,  it  is  only  of  Thy  favour  ;  forgive  me,  if  I  am  unsatiably 
covetous,  it  is  only  of  Thy  fruition  ;  forgive  me,  if  I  am  perpetually 
discontented,  it  is  only  because  I  cannot  love  Thee  more.' 


THE  TENTH   COMMANDMENT  215 

suggests  two  forms  which  covetousness  may  assume  :  the 
desire  of  unlawful  pleasure,  or  the  desire  of  unlawful  posses- 
sion ;  and  this  seems  to  explain  the  frequent  association 
in  St.  Paul's  epistles  of  greed  or  covetousness  with  sins  of 
the  flesh.  1  The  word  '  covetousness  '  has,  in  fact,  a  very 
wide  sense.  As  in  the  Old  Testament  it  appears  to  include 
acts  of  violence  and  rapacity,  oppression  of  debtors  or  of 
the  poor,  acceptance  of  bribes  to  pervert  justice,  making 
unjust  gain  out  of  a  neighbour's  necessities,  etc. ;  so  in 
the  New  Testament  it  implies  the  restless  desire  of  the 
creature  to  satisfy  its  varied  cravings  with  something  other 
and  lower  than  God,  forgetful  that 

'  God  alone  can  satisfy  whom  God  alone  created.' 

The  Decalogue,  then,  '  closes  the  list  of  sins  with  one 
which  begets  them  all '  ;  and  this  circumstance  has  a  certain 
doctrinal  as  well  as  an  ethical  significance. 

I.  In  the  first  place  the  tenth  commandment  enforces 
and  illustrates  the  seemingly  paradoxical  assertion  of  St. 
Paul  that  the  law  is  spiritual.^  It  played,  as  we  may 
remember,  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  Apostle's  own  spiritual 
history.  It  broke  down  the  barriers  of  confidence  and  self- 
sufficiency  that  withheld  him  from  self-surrender  to  Christ. 
It  brought  home  to  him  the  illimitable  range  of  the  Law's 
demand ;  it  taught  him  the  '  inwardness  '  of  morality, 
showing  him  that  the  moral  life  consists  not  in  outward 
action  but  in  disposition  ;  not  in  conformity  to  a  rule  or 
standard  of  external  behaviour,  but  in  the  mortification  of 
desire  and  the  consecration  of  thought  and  impulse  to  God. 
The  single  precept  Thou  shalt  not  covet  (or  lust)  revealed  to 
his  soul  its  inherent  weakness  and  corruption  ;  it  awakened 

1  Cp.  page  173  above,  and  see  Trench,  Synonyms  of  the  New 
Testament,  §  xxiv.  2  Rom.  vii.  14. 


2i6  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

his  conscience  ;  it  drove  him  in  self-despair  to  the  feet  of 
the  Saviour  Whom  he  had  persecuted.  This  is  indeed  the 
glory  of  the  commandment,  that  it  anticipates  the  higher 
righteousness  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  it  introduces 
that  view  of  sin  and  its  opposite  which  is  a  necessary  element 
in  any  religion  that  claims  to  be  spiritual  and  therefore 
universal,  namely,  that  sin  is  not  a  quality  of  acts  or  things, 
but  an  attitude  of  the  heart  or  will ;  that  the  standard  by 
which  conduct  is  to  be  judged  is  not  that  of  outward  con- 
sequences, personal  or  social,  but  that  of  inward  motive  and 
intention  ;  that  righteousness  is  the  fulfilment  of  a  personal 
relationship,  devotion  of  heart  and  life  to  the  invisible  God. 
'  Our  religion,'  writes  Lactantius,  '  is  for  this  reason  per- 
manent and  immutable,  that  it  regards  the  inward  disposi- 
tion itself  as  a  sacrifice  ;  it  depends  wholly  on  the  intention 
of  the  worshipper.'  ^  St.  Paul  himself  is  the  great  exponent 
of  the  doctrine  that  practical  Christianity  consists  in  a  life 
perpetually  directed  Godwards  :  a  life  of  which  the  ruling 
principle  is  the  recollection  of  God's  presence  and  the  single- 
hearted  intention  of  pleasing  Him,  hy  bringing  every  thought 
into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ.^  So,  again,  the  very 
truth  and  inward  reality  of  sacrifice  consists  in  man's  dedi- 
cation and  devotion  of  his  whole  personality — his  will  and 
spirit,  his  heart  and  mind — to  God.^ 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  in  thus  enlarging  and  deepening 
man's  idea  of  the  nature  and  guilt  of  sin,  the  commandment 

1  Lact.  inst.  v.  19.  Cp.  Aug.  in  ep.  Jo.  ad  Parth.,  vii.  7  :  '  Videtis 
quia  non  quid  facial  homo  considerandum  est,  sed  quo  aninio  et 
voluntate  faciat.' 

2  2  Cor.  X.  5.  For  the  phrase  apiaKuv  tQ  Oew  see  Rom.  viii.  8, 
I  Cor.  vii.  32,  I  Thess.  ii.  4,   15,  iv.  i  ;   2  Tim.  ii.  4.     Cp.  Col.  i.  10. 

3  Augustine,  de  civ.  Dei,  x.  6  :  '  Ipse  homo  Dei  nomini  consecra- 
tus  et  Deo  votus,  inquantum  mundo  moritur  ut  Deo  vivat,  sacri- 
£cium  est.' 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT  217 

brings  home  to  him  his  inability  to  fulfil  the  righteousness 
of  the  law  in  his  own  strength.  It  reveals  to  him  the  fear- 
ful strength  of  the  enemy  with  which  he  has  to  contend. 
In  one  of  its  aspects  sin  is  merely  self-love.  On  a  large 
scale  we  see  its  nature  and  consequences  visibly  manifested 
in  the  actual  condition  of  the  world.  Wars  and  fightings 
between  nations  or  classes  of  men,  like  quarrels  between 
individuals,  are  the  outcome  of  desire,  restlessly  seeking 
gratification  yet  never  satisfied.  As  St.  James  (iv.  i  foil.) 
points  out,  while  social  disorders  of  every  kind  have  their 
root  in  the  bhnd  self-seeking  of  individuals,  all  this  vain 
striving  issues  only  in  disillusionment  and  hopelessness. 
Ye  lust  and  have  not ;  ye  kill  and  covet  and  cannot  obtain  ; 
ye  fight  and  war  ;  ye  have  not  because  ye  ask  not.  Ye  ask 
and  receive  not  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  spend  it  on 
your  pleasures.  It  is  self-love  which  underlies  those  '  long- 
range  '  sins  (as  they  have  been  called)  which  are  characteris- 
tic of  modern  civilization  :  that  apathy  and  callousness, 
for  instance,  which  disclaims  all  personal  responsibility  and 
concern  for  the  condition  of  the  toihng  poor ;  that  non- 
moral  use  of  wealth  of  which  gambling  in  its  multitudinous 
forms  is  a  typical  example.  The  tenth  commandment  aims 
its  dart  '  at  the  head  of  a  lie.'  It  excludes  the  love  of  self, 
which  seeks  its  own  regardless  of  its  neighbour's  good, 
which  ignores  and  in  so  doing  loosens  the  very  bond  by  which 
society  is  held  together.  Self-love — ^here  is  the  root  of  all 
that  makes  modern  civilization  a  travesty  of  Christ's  teach- 
ing. St.  Paul  directly  connects  the  precept,  Look  not  every 
man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man  on  the  things  of  others, 
with  the  central  doctrine  of  Christianity,  the  doctrine  of 
the  Cross.  1  The  Cross  means  a  death  to  self,  the  utter 
abnegation  of  self,  the  triumph  of  that  supreme  law  which 
1  Phil.  ii.  4  foil. 


2i8  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

the  sin  of  the  world  contravenes — the  law  of  love.  Only 
in  so  far  as  they  are  crucified  with  Christ,  only  in  proportion 
as  they  are  filled  with  the  very  spirit  of  the  Crucified  and 
share  His  mind,  can  men  overcome  the  passionate  impulses 
which  lead  them  to  ignore  or  destroy  the  happiness  of  others. 
Thus  by  the  pressure  of  the  precept  which  serves  only  to 
manifest  the  strength  of  sin,  the  ruinous  effects  of  self-love, 
they  are  driven  to  find  refuge  in  Him  Who  alone  can  heal 
desire  and  transform  it  into  a  fountain  of  blessing  and  health 
to  mankind.^  We  are  called  to  a  height  of  perfection  which 
we  cannot  attain  by  our  unassisted  natural  powers.  Spirit- 
ual victory  in  the  region  of  desire  and  impulse,  thought 
and  imagination,  can  only  be  won  by  the  grace  of  the  in- 
dwelhng  Spirit,  in  Whose  coming  Christ  comes  and  manifests 
in  man  the  Christ-life,  the  life  which  love  has  purified  and 
transfigured  into  God-likeness. 


We  naturally  think  of  the  commandment,  first,  as  enjoin- 
ing the  restriction  of  desire.  It  encourages  us  to  dwell  in 
thought  on  what  may  be  called  the  negative,  as  well  as  the 
positive,  benevolence  of  Almighty  God.  What  we  have  not, 
we  have  not  in  accordance  with  His  will.  Some  people 
allow  themselves  to  be  miserable  and  restless  because  of 
their  want  of  gifts,  physical,  social,  intellectual.  They 
wish  not  to  be  better,  but  to  be__better  pif ,  than  they  are. 
Hence  arise  envy,  unwillingness  to  think  or  speak  well  of 
those  who  are  wealthier  or  more  gifted  or  more  fortunate 
than  ourselves  ;  and  discontent — a  sense  of  dissatisfaction — 

1  Aug.  epist.  xcvi.  ad  Asellicum  :  '  Haec  est  utilitas  legis,  quia 
ostendit  hominem  sibi  ut  sciat  infirmitatem  suam,  et  videat  quemad- 
modum  per  prohibitionem  augeatur  potius  camalis  concupiscentia 
quam  sanetur.' 


THE  TENTH   COMMANDMENT  219 

passing  over  too  readily  into  a  kind  of  resentment  against 
the  order  of  God's  providence.  The  tenth  commandment 
plainly  preaches  contentment.  We  are  to  accept  the  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  of  our  life  as  God's  present  will 
for  us  ;  to  check  day-dreams  ;  to  repress  the  wandering  of 
the  desire.  ^  In  things  as  they  are  we  are  to  find  our  opportu- 
nities of  conquest  and  of  service.  We  are  to  control  cir- 
cumstances, and  make  them  minister  to  our  moral  and 
spiritual  enrichment.  Bishop  Wilson  wisely  says  in  his 
Sacra  Privata,  '  Though  I  suffer,  yet  I  am  well,  because  I 
am  what  God  would  have  me  to  be  '  ;  and  elsewhere  he  lays 
down  for  those  who  seek  '  the  way  of  an  happy  life  '  the 
following  rule  :  '  Lay  nothing  too  much  to  heart ;  desire 
nothing  too  eagerly  ;  rejoice  not  excessively,  nor  grieve  too 
much  for  disasters  ;  be  not  violently  bent  on  any  design  ; 
nor  let  any  worldly  cares  hinder  you  from  taking  care  of 
your  own  soul.'  Our  great  aim  should  be  to  become  all 
that  we,  with  our  special  opportunities  and  gifts,  are  capable 
of  becoming.  So  of  a  noble  woman  it  is  related  by  her  bio- 
grapher that  '  she  was  always  anxious  to  become  all  she 
could  be  rather  than  to  do  great  things.'  ^  The  real  task 
of  life  is  to  discover  what  manner  of  men  and  women  God 
would  have  us  be  ;  to  seek  not  to  fulfil  any  self-chosen  ideal 
of  life,  but  to  ask  continually.  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me 
to  do  P  '  ^  We  may  be  sure  that  Almighty  God  has  given 
us,  and  will  give  us  in  the  future,  all  that  we  really  need  for 
the  accompHshment  of  that  one  supreme  purpose  of  Ufe. 
When  St.  Paul  speaks  of  godliness  with  contentment,  he 
evidently  contrasts  it  with  the  temper  of  those  who  desire 
to  he  rich,  and  who  thereby  involve  themselves  in  cares  and 

^  Eccles.  vi.  9. 

2  A  Record  of  Ellen  Watson  (1856-1880),  by  A.  Buckland,  p.  17, 

^  Acts  Lx.  6. 


220  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

sorrows,  in  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  destroy  peace  of 
mind  and  are  ruinous  to  character.^  For  experience  shows 
that  the  persistent  pursuit  of  wealth  is  fatal  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  man's  higher  self ;  it  quenches  spiritual  aspira- 
tions ;  it  sears  the  conscience  ;  it  robs  the  soul  of  moral 
freedom  ;  it  impairs  the  social  instincts — mercy,  compas- 
sion, humanity.  It  undermines  at  once  a  man's  sense  of 
dependence  on  his  fellows,  and  his  feehng  of  responsibility 
towards  them.'^ 

Contentment  is  one  lesson  of  the  commandment,  and 
another  is  unworldliness.  A  man's  life,  we  know,  consisteth 
not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesseth.^  Not 
only  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  but  the  very  circumstances 
of  our  time,  warn  us  to  be  men  of  few  wants  ;  simple  in  our 
habits  of  life,  and  seeking  only  for  that  degree  of  wealth 
which  will  render  us  efficient  in  the  work  of  our  calling. 
One  of  the  great  objects  which  men  of  good  will  should  set 
before  themselves  at  the  present  time  is  the  endeavour  to 
lessen  the  inequality  that  prevails  between  different  stan- 
dards of  comfort — the  highest  and  the  lowest.  'It  is  a 
clear  duty,'  says  a  recent  writer  on  Ethics,  '  oi^  the  part  of 
every  one  who  is  convinced  that  the  share  of  good  things 
enjoyed  by  the  few  is  disproportionate  and  intrinsically 
unjust,  to  seek  to  limit  his  own  personal  expenditure  where- 
ever  he  can  do  so  without  a  less  efficient  discharge  of  his 
own  social  function  or  other  social  inconvenience.'  * 

Once  more  the  commandment  teaches  unselfishness. 
No  one  who  takes   due  account  of  the  whole  condition  of 

1  I  Tim.  vi.  6-IO. 

2  Cp.  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  by  W.  Rauschenbusch, 
p.  74  f.  (a  powerful  and  striking  survey  of  present  social  conditions 
in  England  and  America).  *  Luke  xii.   15. 

*  H.  Rashdall,   The  Theory  of  Good  and  Evil,  vol.  i.,  p.  272. 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT  221 

the  world,  who  considers  the  infinite  needs  of  humanity — 
the  evils  and  sorrows  that  lack  assuagement,  the  poverty 
of  every  description — mental,  spiritual,  material — that 
claims  relief,  will  feel  inclined  to  seek  great  things  for 
himself,  or  to  waste  his  energies  in  heaping  up  riches  and 
surrounding  himself  with  comforts.  On  the  contrary,  he 
will  endeavour  to  take  his  full  share  of  the  burden  of  responsi- 
bility which  rests  upon  society  as  a  whole  for  the  present 
state  of  things.  The  question  of  the  Hebrew  prophet  will 
continually  ring  in  his  ears  :  Is  it  a  time  to  receive  money, 
and  to  receive  garments,  and  olive-yards  and  vine-yards,  and 
sheep,  and  oxen,  and  menservants  and  maidservants  ?^  The 
call  to  our  age  is  not  to  accumulate  wealth  indefinitely,  but 
rather  to  employ  and  distribute  it  wisely  and  equitably. 
It  is  related  of  an  honoured  merchant  who  rose  to  high  emi- 
nence in  Liverpool  not  many  years  ago  that  '  He  recognized 
the  principle  that  in  going  into  business  God  has  the  first 
claim  on  the  profits.  When  he  had  acquired  a  certain 
amount  of  capital  which  he  considered  adequate  to  his  busi- 
ness obligations,  some  years  before  his  death,  he  came  to 
the  conclusion  to  allow  no  further  accumulation,  but  to 
spend  all  that  he  got,  as  God  prospered  him,  for  the  promo- 
tion of  Christian  enterprise  and  social  reforms.'  Of  the 
same  good  man  we  are  told  that  in  his  case  the  difficulty 
was  '  not  to  get  him  to  treat  others  as  he  treated  himself, 
but  to  get  him  to  treat  himself  as  he  treated  others.'  ^ 

In  this  instance  at  least  the  Christian  interpretation  of 
the  commandment  Thou  shalt  not  covet  was  discovered  in 
the  Gospel  precept.  Let  no  man  seek  his  own  but  every  man 
another's  wealth.^  CjL    ^     ^ 

^  2  Kings  V.  27. 

3  See  Dr.  R.  F.  Horton,  This  Do,  pp.  7  foil. 

^  I  Cor.  X.  24  ;    cp.  xiii.  5. 


222  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

II 

The  other  aspect  of  the  commandment  is  positive.  It 
inculcates  the  right  direction  and  the  complete  consecration 
of  desire.  It  gives  us  an  answer  to  the  question  propounded 
in  the  famous  tenth  Satire  of  Juvenal,  a  question  suggested 
by  the  moral  and  religious  conditions  of  an  age  and  state 
of  society  which  presents,  as  we  are  often  reminded,  startling 
parallels  to  our  own.  The  late  Bishop  Creighton  shortly 
before  his  death  is  said  to  have  observed,  '  I  have  no  doubt 
what  is  the  greatest  danger  of  the  twentieth  century  :  it  is 
the  absence  of  high  aspirations  '  ;  and  more  recently  a 
similar  remark  has  been  made  by  the  author  of  that  able 
but  disquieting  book  The  Condition  of  England, — the  remark 
that  modern  life  as  a  whole  is  destitute  of  what  he  caUs 
'  ideal  inner  springs.'  Indeed,  we  seem  in  much  recent 
literature  to  overhear  an  echo  of  Juvenal's  complaint  that 
most  men  pass  through  life  aimlessly,  knowing  neither  what 
to  pursue  nor  what  to  avoid.  What,  asks  the  Satirist, 
is  to  be  the  purport  of  their  prayers  ?  What  shall  they 
desire  of  the  gods  ?  and  his  poem  culminates  in  a  typical 
prayer  of  Stoic  piety  : — 

'  O  Thou  who  know'st  the  wants  of  human  kind. 
Vouchsafe  me  health  of  body,  health  of  mind  ; 
A  soul  prepared  to  meet  the  frowns  of  fate 
And  look  undaunted  on  a  future  state  ; 
That  reckons  death  a  blessing,  yet  can  bear 
Existence  nobly  with  its  weight  of  care  ; 
That  anger  and  desire  alike  restrains. 
And  counts  Alcides'  toils  and  cruel  pains 
Superior  far  to  banquets,  wanton  nights, 
And  all  the  Assyrian  monarch's  soft  delights.'  ^ 

In  dealing  with  the  Decalogue  as  a  '  rule  of  Hfe  and  love,' 
we  may  assume  that  it  answers  this  fundamental  question, 

>  Juv.  Sat.  X.  355  foil,  (boldly  translated  by  W.  Gififord). 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT  223 

What  ought  we  to  desire  and  aim  at  ?     What  should  be  the 
thing  that  we  long  for  ?    What  the  supreme  object  of  prayer  ? 

Here  we  shall  not  forget  that  the  teaching  of  the  first 
commandment  suggests  the  true  answer.  The  end  of  our 
being  is  the  possession  of  God  ;  the  crown  of  desire  and 
aspiration  is  Himself.  As  St.  Augustine  says  in  a  fine  sen- 
tence near  the  close  of  his  greatest  work  :  '  He  Himself  will 
be  the  reward  of  virtue  who  has  imparted  virtue,  and  has 
promised  to  bestow  upon  us  Himself,  the  greatest  and  best 
of  all  things.  .  .  .  He  Himself  is  the  end  of  our  desires  ; 
He  Who  shall  be  seen  without  end,  loved  without  satiety, 
praised  without  weariness.'  ^ 

I.  Ipse  -finis  erit  desideriorum  nostrorum.  If  religion  con- 
sists in  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  true  life  of  man,  the  final 
end  of  his  endeavours,  must  be  the  discovery  and  fulfilment 
of  His  will.  We  have  to  consider  this  all-disposing  Will  in 
relation  to  our  own  character,  our  vocation  and  work  in 
life,  the  special  circumstances  of  our  time.  To  the  yearning 
of  desire  corresponds  the  temper  of  expectancy.  Fixing 
his  heart  on  one  supreme  object,  the  Christian  will  con- 
tinually look  for  tokens  of  the  divine  purpose,  indications  of 
the  path  he  must  follow,  of  the  work  he  is  called  to  do.  And 
the  surest  way  to  discover  the  divine  will  for  us  is  to  fulfil 
the  task  that  immediately  confronts  us  trustfully,  thor- 
oughly, prayerfully  ;  not  asking  to  see  '  the  distant  scene,' 
but  confident  that  each  step  on  our  way  is  ordered  by  a 
Wisdom  which  perfectly  knows  the  direction  and  the  goal 
of  our  pilgrimage.  One  certain  sign  of  vocation  is  willing- 
ness to  submit  cheerfully  to  the  discipline  of  present  cir- 
cumstances, realizing  that  the  truth  of  God's  providence 
gives  meaning  and  dignity  even  to  the  most  trivial  tasks  and 
incidents  of  daily  life. 

^  de  civitate  Dei,  xxii.  30. 


224  THE   RULE   OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

But  be3'ond  the  thought  of  God's  will  for  the 
individual  soul,  its  growth  in  grace,  its  fulfilment  of  its 
appointed  mission,  its  sanctification  through  work  and 
suffering,  Hes  the  purpose  of  that  will  respecting  the  world 
at  large.  The  present  order  of  things,  political,  social, 
religious  ;  the  expansion  of  knowledge  ;  the  signs  of  the 
times  ;  the  needs  of  the  age— all  these  have  to  be  studied 
in  the  light  of  God's  revealed  will ;  all  the  problems  they 
suggest  have  to  be  solved  in  dependence  upon  the  divine 
guidance  which  reaches  us  through  the  illumination  of  con- 
science, the  progress  of  science,  the  teachings  of  history  and 
experience.  We  are  called  to  apply  to  the  special  circum- 
stances of  our  age  the  great  principles  of  ethics  enshrined 
in  the  Decalogue  and  expanded  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Each  precept  proclaims  the  truth  that  virtue  is  not  so 
much  a  possession  of  the  individual  soul  as  a  social  force  of 
indefinite  magnitude  ;  that  no  man  liveth  to  himself,  but 
that  all  his  habits,  ways  and  works  have  a  direct  bearing 
upon  the  well-being  of  others.  The  character  which  Chris- 
tianity aims  at  producing  is  social ;  it  stands  related  to  the 
needs  and  claims  of  a  body ;  and  the  will  of  God  which  the 
individual  embraces  and  obeys,  has  as  its  end  and  scope 
the  regeneration  of  society.  The  kingdom  of  God  '  comes  ' 
in  proportion  as  that  will  is  fulfilled  by  individuals  ;  but 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  is  the  law  of  all  progress,  and 
the  crown  of  all  hope,  for  mankind  at  large.  Our  Lord 
plainly  accepts  this  Himself  as  the  guiding  principle  of  the 
incarnate  life,  and  claims  spiritual  kinship  with  all  who 
follow  His  example  :  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that 
sent  Me  and  to  finish  His  work.  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will 
of  God,  the  same  is  My  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother.'^  But 
He  teaches  His  followers  to  look  beyond  the  present  to  a 
1  John  iv.  34 ;  Mark.  iii.  35. 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT  225 

time  when,  in  a  redeemed  humanity,  in  a  new  heaven  and 
earth,  God  shall  manifest  the  end  of  all  His  ways  and  the 
eternal  purpose  of  His  will. 

2.  Next,  and  as  a  part  of  the  will  of  God,  we  are  called 
to  seek  the  perfection  of  our  own  nature  ;  we  may  rightly 
desire  to  be  the  very  best  that  we  have  it  in  us  to  become. 
It  is  this  '  self,'  this  personality  of  ours,  which  God  deigns 
to  use  in  the  furtherance  of  His  purpose  and  in  the  exten- 
sion of  His  kingdom.  For  the  end  of  discipline,  of  restric- 
tion of  desire  ('  Thou  shalt  not '),  of  self-denial,  is  not  the 
repression  of  nature,  but  its  liberation  from  all  that  hinders 
or  mars  its  perfect  development.  The  characteristic  gift 
of  the  Gospel  is  life  ;  the  divine  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  power 
because  He  is  also  the  Spirit  of  discipline.  Man  realizes  his 
highest  capacities,  he  attains  to  spiritual  power,  by  con- 
centrating his  energies  on  what  is  best  worth  seeking,  and 
by  sacrificing  the  lower  to  the  higher  elements  in  his  nature. 
We  are  not  to  '  lay  waste  our  powers  '  in  seeking  the  lower 
good  when  we  are  capable  of '  having  '  the  living  God  Him- 
self as  the  strength  of  our  heart  and  our  portion  for  ever.  Here 
is  the  motive  we  need  for  using  aright  present  opportunities, 
and  for  doing  all  that  we  do  as  unto  the  Lord  :  glorifying 
God  in  the  activities  of  a  disciphned  body,  the  energies  of  a 
carefully  trained  mind,  the  devotion  of  a  will  which  has 
found  in  the  will  of  God  its  freedom  and  its  peace.  ^ 

3.  We  have  noticed  the  fact  that  in  the  English  liturgy 
the  short  petition  which  follows  the  last  of  the  command- 
ments was  probably  suggested  by  a  collect  contained  in  the 
service-book  used  by  the  Protestant  refugees  from  Strasburg, 
and  pubhshed  in  Latin  by  Valerand  PuUain  (i55i).2 

^  E  la  sua  volontate  e  nostra  pace.     Dante,  Paradiso,  Cant.  3.  85. 

2  '  Domine  Deus,  Pater  misericors,  qui  hoc  decalogo  per  servum 

tuum  Mosem  nos  Legis  tuae  justitiam  docuisti ;  dignare  cordibus 


226  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

The  language  of  this  prayer  refers,  of  course,  to  the  words 
of  St.  Paul  in  2  Corinthians  iii.  3,  commenting  upon  which 
Augustine  explains  that  the  law  of  God  written  on  the  heart 
signifies  simply  '  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  finger 
of  God,  by  Whose  presence  love  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  : 
love  which  is  the  fulfilhng  of  the  law  and  the  end  of  the 
commandment.'  ^  '  The  Law,'  then,  as  the  same  great 
writer  points  out,  '  was  given  that  grace  might  be  sought 
for ;  and  grace  was  bestowed  that  the  Law  might  be  ful- 
filled.' 2  Thus  the  crowning  object  of  Christian  desire  is 
the  presence  of  God  in  the  heart :  the  indwelling  of  the 
divine  Spirit  as  the  living  Source  of  holiness,  enlightenment 
and  power.  To  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  is  the  destiny  to 
which  man  is  called,  and  of  which  he  is  capable,  in  Christ. 
The  Spirit  makes  known  the  will  and  manifold  wisdom  of 
God  ;  He  takes  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  reveals  them  to 
the  Church.  He  lifts  human  nature  to  its  highest  level ; 
He  enables  man  to  become  his  best,  his  noblest  self.  The 
true  liberty  of  man's  will  is  realized  '  exactly  in  proportion 
as  he  is  in  Christ,  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  him.  ...  In 
its  perfectness  it  is  the  self  become  another.  It  is  Christ 
in  the  man.  It  is  the  man  become  one  Spirit  with  Christ.'  ^ 
The  Law  of  God  written  in  the  heart  of  man  :  this  is  the 
predestined  consummation  of  Christ's  redemptive  work.  It 
is  the  goal  of  man's  spiritual  progress.  Thus  does  he  enter 
into  life,  since  the  Holy  One  Who  dwells  within  him  is  Love 
and  the  Source  of  Love  :  bestowed  by  the  Eternal  Father 
upon  His  children  that  they  may  find  the  fulfilment  of  His 

nostris  earn  ita  tuo  Spiritn  inscrihere,  ut  nequicquam  deinceps  in 
vita  magis  optemus  aut  velimus  quam  tibi  obedientia  consummata 
placere  in  omnibus,  per  Jesum  Christum  Filium  tuum.'  Cp.  p.  44. 

^  Aug.,  de  spiritu  et  litera,  xxxvi.  2  ibid,  xxxiv. 

=«   K.  C.  Moberly,  Atonement  and  Personality,  227. 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT  227 

commandments  not  a  burden  but  a  delight ;  not  bondage 
but  liberty  ;  not  the  task  work  of  slaves  but  the  glad  service 
of  sons.i 

III 

We  may  fittingly  close  our  study  of  the  Decalogue  by 
briefly  dwelling  once  more,  even  at  the  risk  of  some 
repetition,  on  the  manner  in  which  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  '  fulfilled  '  the  righteousness  of  the 
Law. 

I.  First,  He  fulfilled  it  in  His  own  person  as  '  the  great 
Prophet  of  love.'  ^ 

The  Law  had  two  aspects  :  as  a  ceremonial  system  it  was 
designed  to  educate  and  to  satisfy  man's  sense  of  sin  and 
spiritual  need.  As  a  law  of  righteousness,  it  was  calculated 
to  develop  in  man  such  self-despair  as  should  drive  him  to 
seek  from  God  the  moral  strength  which  he  needed  in  order 
to  comply  with  the  Law's  demand.  Both  these  aspects  of 
the  Law  found  their  counterpart  and  fulfilment  in  Christ. 
He  exhibited  in  His  own  life  of  obedience,  and  in  the  death 
which  crowned  it,  the  essential  nature  of  the  sacrifice  which 
the  divine  righteousness  required,  namely,  the  self-oblation 
of  a  devoted  and  obedient  will.  Further,  Christ's  teaching 
showed  that  the  Mosaic  precepts  relating  to  purification, 
and  the  distinctions  between  clean  and  unclean,  etc.,  were 
intended  not  only  to  impress  upon  the  Jew  the  sanctity  of 
all  life,  but  also  to  suggest,  by  enactments  dealing  merely 
with  physical  facts  and  conditions,  distinctions  that  were 

*  Aug.,  de  catechisandis  rudibus,  xxiii,  41  :  '  Misit  eis  Spiritum 
Sanctum  per  quern  diffusa  caritate  in  cordibus  eorum,  non  solum 
sine  onere  sed  etiam  cum  jucunditate  legem  possent  implere.' 

*  Bp.  Ken,  The  Practice  of  Divine  Love,  part  3,  init. 


228  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

moral  and  spiritual.  The  ceremonial  directions  of  the 
levitical  code  were  based  on  the  idea  that  holiness  was  a 
thing  external  and  physical,  namely,  '  separation '  from 
anything  that  might  cause  legal  defilement.  The  new  law 
of  Christ  proclaimed  that  hohness  consisted  in  the  hallowing 
of  man's  entire  nature,  the  consecration  to  God  of  thought, 
impulse,  desire  and  conduct  aUke. 

On  the  other  hand,  Jesus  Christ  fulfilled  the  law  of  moral 
obedience,  in  that  he  exhibited  in  His  own  perfect  life  that 
type  of  character  which  the  Law  was  intended,  but  hitherto 
had  failed,  to  produce ;  the  character  of  the  loving  and 
devoted  '  servant  of  Jehovah.'  He  visibly  manifested  in 
word  and  action  the  righteousness  towards  which  the  discip- 
line of  the  ancient  Covenant  pointed  and  tended  from  the 
first :  that  spirit  or  temper  to  which  the  Old  Testament 
saints  had,  at  the  best,  only  partially  attained.  Christ 
*  fulfilled  '  the  Law  in  a  sense  far  deeper  and  more  com- 
prehensive than  even  Israel's  holiest  could  anticipate  when 
He  summed  up  the  whole  duty  of  man  in  the  twofold  pre- 
cept of  love,  and  furnished  as  it  were  a  divine  commentary 
upon  it  in  His  life  :  in  His  filial  devotion  to  God,  in  His  hos- 
tihty  to  evil,  in  His  tenderness  to  the  outcast  and  the  sinful, 
in  His  fellow-feeling  for  sufferers,  in  the  completeness  of 
His  self-sacrifice.  He  is,  then.  Himself  the  true  expositor 
of  the  Law,  imparting  to  the  law  of  love  that  infinite  extension 
which  is  imphed  in  the  culminating  precept :  Be  ye  perfect 
even  as  your  Father  Which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect.  His  life 
on  earth  was  the  manifestation  of  love  in  its  perfect  fulfil- 
ment of  all  possible  relationships.  In  Him  we  behold  love 
finding  its  perfect  joy  and  satisfaction  in  God,  and  thus  ful- 
filhng  '  the  great  and  first '  commandment ;  love  worship- 
ping the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  (II)  ;  love  manifesting 
and  glorifying  on  earth  the  Name  of  God  (111)  ;    love  ex- 


CONCLUSION  229 

hibiting  the  perfect  interdependence  of  work  and  prayer 
(IV)  ;  love  submitting  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the 
Lord's  sake  by  subjection  to  earthly  parents  and  to  consti- 
tuted authority  (V)  ;  love  doing  good,  ever  toiling  for  '  the 
preservation,  restoration  and  exaltation  of  life  '  ^  (VI)  ;  love 
representing  in  a  stainless  human  body  the  perpetual  tri- 
umph of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh  (VII)  ;  love  rendering  to 
all  their  dues  (VIII),  thinking  and  speaking  no  evil  (IX), 
and  finding  in  the  service  of  God  the  fulfilment  of  all 
desire,  the  crown  of  every  aspiration  (X). 

Thus  He  teaches  us  that  the  moral  law  of  God  not  only 
confronts  and  challenges  man's  conscience  as  an  external 
positive  precept,  but  that  it  claims  his  allegiance  as  the 
necessary  rule  of  perfection,  the  true  law  of  the  mind,  for  a 
being  formed  in  the  image  of  God  and  as  such  called  to 
embrace  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  the  All- 
holy  and  All-merciful.  2 

Christ  then  fulfils  the  Law,  manifests  the  inner  spirit 
and  meaning  of  the  Decalogue,  in  His  life  of  love.  He  shows 
that  love  is  the  law  of  the  divine  kingdom  at  each  stage  of 
its  manifestation  on  earth  ;  that  through  love  man  fulfils 
his  part  in  that  eternal  spiritual  order  which  embraces  all 
created  being  and  of  which  God  Himself  is  Lord  and  King 
because  He  is  love,  and  he  that  abideth  in  love  ahideth  in  God, 
and  God  abideth  in  him.^  He  implies  that  in  regard  to  both 
the  negative  and  positive  duties  implied  in  each  command- 
ment love  is  the  sure  and  only  guide  :  love  in  its  instinctive 
hatred  of  evil  and  its  delight  in  good,  its  '  tenderness  to  please 
and  its  tearfulness  to  offend  '  ^ ;   love  habitually  approving 


^  This  is  the  definition  of  '  salvation  '  given  by  the  late  Dr.  Hort 
in  The  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life  (Hulsean  Lectures),  p.  loi. 
2  Rom.  vii.  23  ;    xii.  2.  ^  i  John  iv.  16.  *  Bp.  Ken. 


230  THE  RULE  OF  LIFE  AND  LOVE 

the  things  that  are  excellent  and  buying  up  the  opportunity  * 
as  occasion  requires.     Ama  et  fac  quod  vis. 

2.  On  the  other  hand  Christ  also  fulfils  the  moral  law  in 
us  as  the  Author  of  Redemption.  The  discipline  of  life 
under  the  old  Covenant  led  man  to  realize  the  enslavement 
of  his  will.  It  compelled  him  to  look  beyond  himself  for 
power  to  fulfil  what  he  recognized  to  be  the  essential  law  of 
his  nature  as  a  spiritual  being.  In  His  re-enactment  and 
exposition  of  the  moral  law,  Jesus  Christ  seems  to  respond 
to  man's  sense  of  failure  and  weakness.  He  reveals  at  once 
the  meaning  of  the  law's  authority  and  the  power  by  which 
alone  the  wiU  of  God  can  be  accompHshed.  He  shows  that 
the  Law  speaks  with  authority  because  it  is  the  appeal  of 
Person  to  person.  He  Who  says  Be  ye  holy  for  I  am  holy 
has  manifested  Himself  in  history  as  the  gracious  Redeemer 
of  His  people,  Who  calls  them  to  be  like  Himself,  and  Who 
in  the  Incarnation  and  Passion  of  His  Son  reveals  Himself 
as  being  '  on  our  side  '  in  our  conflict  with  the  sin  and  evil 
of  the  world.  ^  An  authority  which  is  moral  and  personal 
finds  its  echo  and  response  in  the  human  heart,  since  it  pre- 
sents itself  to  man  as  the  requirement  of  his  own  conscience, 
as  the  demand  of  his  own  spiritual  nature  for  satisfaction 
and  perfection.  Again,  the  Law  emanates  from  One  Who 
is  a  God  of  grace,  freely  bestowing  that  filial  Spirit  of  love 
and  of  power  which  alone  can  enlist  the  affections  and  re- 
enforce  the  wiU  of  man.  Thus  the  commandment  which 
human  weakness  found  to  be  unto  death  ^  is  transformed 


^  See  Phil.  i.  lo,  Eph.  v.  i6,  marg.  (R.V.). 

2  Forbes  Robinson's  Letters  to  his  friends,  p.  193.  '  I  like  to 
read  how  Jesus  went  about  healing  all  manner  of  diseases  and  all 
manner  of  sickness  and  bringing  life  and  strength  wherever  He  came, 
showing  us  that  Heaven  is  on  our  side  in  our  wrestle  mth  all  that 
deforms  and  degrades  human  nature.'  ^  Rom.  vii.   10. 


CONCLUSION  231 

into  a  rule  of  life  and  love.  He  who  proclaims  that  Ufe  in 
God  is  the  true  destiny  of  man,  is  Himself  the  Author  and 
Giver  of  this  Life ;  Himself  deigns  through  the  operation 
of  His  Spirit  to  become  unto  His  brethren  and  within  them 
wisdom  from  God  and  righteousness  and  sanctification.'^ 

When  we  ponder  this  mystery  of  divine  lovingkindness, 
we  seem  to  understand  why  it  was  that  the  great  discourse, 
in  which  the  Lord  Jesus  promulgated  the  Law  of  His  king- 
dom and  expounded  the  inner  meaning  of  the  Decalogue, 
was  pronounced  upon  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes.  '  With 
God,'  says  Irenaeus,  '  nothing  is  meaningless  or  without 
significance.' 2  We  are  surely  intended  to  learn  that  the 
life  of  obedience  to  the  commandments  of  God  is  identical 
with  the  hfe  of  true  blessedness  ;  that  in  fulfiUing  them  man 
attains  his  true  end,  fellowship  with  the  All-holy. 

The  same  thought  indeed  seems  to  be  already  suggested 
in  the  Psalter,  more  particularly  in  that  psalm  which  has 
been  called  pre-eminently  '  the  Psalm  of  the  Law,'  '  the 
workday  Psalm  of  the  Church,'  The  cxixth  Psalm  seems 
to  be  the  mature  spiritual  fruit  of  the  captivity  in  Babylon : 
that  prolonged,  severe  and  monotonous  discipHne  which 
was  to  Israel  the  means  of  a  real  spiritual  education,  the 
occasion  of  a  great  spiritual  advance.  In  Babylon  Israel 
learned  to  be  independent  of  all  sensible  tokens  of  Jehovah's 
presence  in  the  midst  of  His  people.  It  rose  to  a  more  pro- 
found conception  of  the  divine  nature.  It  learned  that 
God  was  spirit  and  that  the  worship  which  He  could  accept 
must  be  whoUy  spiritual.  The  Law  written  of  old  on  tables 
of  stone  now  became  through  suffering  engraved  upon  the 
hearts  of  devout  Israelites.     The  nation  renewed  its  youth  ; 

^  1  Cor.  i,  30. 

2  Iren.,  adv.  haer.,  iv.  21  :  'Nihil  enim  vacuum  neque  sine  sign 
apud  Deum.' 


232  THE   RULE  OF  LIFE  AND   LOVE 

it  returned  in  a  sense  to  its  first  love.  In  the  wilderness  of 
the  peo-ples  Jehovah  spake  comfortably  to  His  erring  children, 
/  am  a  father  to  Israel  and  Ephraim  is  My  firstborn.^  Fur- 
ther, the  effect  of  the  exile  was  to  bring  abruptly  to  an  end 
that  ceremonial  system  which  had  hitherto  been  regarded 
as  the  indispensable  condition  of  covenant-union  with  God. 
In  Babylon  sacrificial  worship  was  impossible,  and  the  only 
means  of  keeping  aUve  the  religious  tradition  of  the  nation 
was  a  strict  observance  of  such  customs — circumcision, 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  stated  fasts,  distinctions  of  clean 
and  unclean  meats,  lustrations  and  common  prayer — as 
could  be  practised  without  interference  on  foreign  soil. 
The  question  forced  itself  upon  Israel's  consciousness  whether 
after  all  the  worship  of  sacrifices  really  corresponded  to 
Jehovah's  original  requirement.  The  teaching  of  the  pro- 
phets bore  at  length  its  tardy  fruit,  and  the  judgment 
which  had  overwhelmed  the  nation  was  seen  to  be  the  penalty 
of  unfaithfulness  to  the  moral  law  and  of  forgetfulness  that 
the  Decalogue  was  the  true  link  that  united  man  to  his 
Creator.  Thus  was  awakened  the  life  of  religious  affection 
and  aspiration — the  hfe  which  in  due  time,  after  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Tews  to  their  own  land,  found  tender  and  nas- 
sionate  expression  in  the  Psalter.  The  cxixth  Psalm,  beyond 
aU  others,  perhaps,  testifies  that  the  revival  of  the  sacrificial 
worship  and  the  discipline  of  the  levitical  law  in  post-exilic 
times,  completed  the  work  of  grace  which  the  period  of  the 
captivity  had  begun  ,  and  so  far  from  quenching  the  newly- 
awakened  life  of  emotion  rather  purified  and  deepened  it. 
The  Psalm  reflects  the  yearnings  and  strivings  of  a  spirit 
which  has  realized  in  its  time  of  trouble  and  desolation  that 
God  Himself  is  its  life  and  its  light,  and  that  only  in  fellow- 
ship with  Him  can  it  find  blessedness  and  peace. 
^  Jer.  xxxi.  9. 


CONCLUSION  233 

Blessed  are  those  that  are  undefiled  in  the  way : 

and  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord. 
Blessed  are  they  that  keep  His  testimonies : 

and  seek  Him  with  their  whole  heart. 

Do  we  not  hear  the  echo  of  this  heartfelt  confession  in  the 
opening  words  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ? 

With  an  infinitely  higher  and  deeper  consciousness  of  all 
that  is  involved  in  the  keeping  of  God's  commandments, 
the  Son  of  Man  describes  the  true  blessedness  in  words  which 
do  but  expand  the  utterance  of  the  Psalmist.  The  beatitude 
of  the  soul  consists  in  that  spirit  of  unbroken  dependence 
on  God  which  is  at  once  the  divinely-intended  fruit  of  the 
Decalogue  and  the  secret  of  its  fulfilment.  The  blessedness 
of  those  who  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  and  who  seek  Him 
with  their  whole  heart  is  the  blessedness  of  the  poor  in  spirit 
to  whom  belongs  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  of  the  pure  in  heart 
who  shall  see  God. 


INDEX 


Almsgiving,  i6i 
Anger,  Christian  view  of,  151 
Aquinas,  T.,  on  the  old  and  new 
law,  17 

on  the  division  of  the  deca- 
logue, 49 

on  permissible  falsehood,  201 
Augustine,  on  the  division  of  the 
decalogue,  49 

Confessions  of,  71 

de  beata  vita  of,  78 

on  the  fourth  commandment, 
123 

on  reverence  to  parents,  133 

on  prayer,  160 

on  religion  in  the  State,  191 

on  desire,  214 

on  God  as  the  reward,  223 
Authority,  principle  of,  137  foil. 

in  Church  and  State,  139  foil. 

Bacon,  on  idols,  68 
Barrow,  Isaac,  on  war,  156 

on  industry,  193 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  quoted,  10 

on  superstition,  87 

on  justice,  150 

on  anger,  153 

on  temperance,  176 

on  charity  in  word,  210 
Bible,  reverence  due  to  the,  107 
'  Book  of  Sports,  the  '  (1618),  125 
Bright,  John,  character  of,  92 


Browning,  E.,  quoted,  77 
Browning,  R.,  quoted,  16 
Butler,  Bp.,  75,  91 

on  the  tongue,  105,  no,  209 

on  resentment,  151 

Candour,  duty  of,  207 
Capital  Punishment,  157 
Channing,  W.  E.,  on  worship,  97 
Charlemagne,  84 
Christ,  on  divorce,  171 
on  the  law,  i 
His  fulfilment  of  the  law,  15, 

35,  227  foil. 
His   reverence   for   humanity, 

109,  163 
priestly    compassion    of,    154 

foil, 
as  Prophet  of  Love,  227 
as  Author  of  Redemption,  230 
Christians,   early,   their  view  of 

the  State,  141  foil. 
Church,  Dean,  quoted,  67 
Circumcision,  symbolism  of,  39 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  on  Hfe,  62 
Commandments,    the,    see   table 
of  contents 
the  second,  27,  30,  81  foil, 
the  tenth,  29  note,  213  foil. 
Commercial  morality,  189 
Consecration,  law  of ,  121 
Constantinople,   synod  of   (754), 
84 


235 


336 


INDEX 


'  Covenant,  Book  of  the,'  33 
'  Covetousness  '  in  O.T.,  215 
Creighton,  Bp.,  222 
Criticism,  the  habit  of,  108 
Cyinl  of  Jerusalem,  quoted,  79, 
116 


Dale,  Dr.  R.  W.,  on  John  Bright, 

92 
Darwin,  C,  208 

Decalogue,   the,   a  revelation  of 
God,  3 
and  the  law  of  Nature,  6 
a  law  of  love,  9 
a  law  of  liberty,  1 1 
rules  for  interpreting,  12  foil, 
the  name,  25  note 
history  of,  25  foil. 
Mosaic  origin  of,  27 
the  '  ritual  decalogue,'  28,  30 
purport  for  Israel,  35 
Christian  writers  on,  40 
use  in  the  Liturgy,  43  foil. 
a  link  between  Jew  and  Chris- 
tian, 46 
different  arrangements  of,   47 

foil, 
negative  form  of,  60 
relation  of  to  the  beatitudes, 
231 
Deception,   when   harmless,   201 

foil. 
Deity,  false  ideas  of,  86 
Desire,  its  function,  214 

its  rightful  objects,  222  foil. 
Deuteronomy,  Book  of,  61 
Devas,  C.  S.,  quoted,  192 
Devotion,  aids  to,  76  foil. 
Domer,  Dr.  I.  A.,  on  Sunday  ob- 
servance, 128 


Elohist,  the,  26 


Emerson,  R.  W.,  on  the  English, 

118 
Empire,    the   Roman,   Christian 

view  of,  141  foil. 
Exile,  effects  of  the,  231  foil. 
Exodus,  the,  3,  64 
Expenditure,  personal,  194  foil. 

Faith,  meaning  of,  72 
Fenelon,  Abp.,  155 
Frankfort,  Synod  of  (794),  84 

God,  primitive  ideas  of,  73 

'  jealousy  '  of,  89 
Good,    the    chief,    in    Christian 
ethics,  18 

Hebrews,    primitive   religion    of 

the,  63 
Hermas,  on  almsgiving,  162 
'  HoUness,  law  of,'  133 
Holland,  Dr.  H.  S.,  quoted,  134 
Hooker,  R.,  on  edification,  96 

on  rest,  124 

on  authority,  138 

on  celibacy,  181 
Hume,  Joseph,  on  marriage,  173 

Ignatius,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  quoted, 

116,  122 
Images,  prohibition  of,  30 

use  of  in  worship,  81  foil. 

controversy  concerning,  84,  85 

Council  of  Trent  on,  85 
'  Injunctions,  the,'  of  Elizabeth 

and  Edward  VI,  44 
Irenaeus,  on  the  decalogue,  6,  7 

quoted,  131 

Jehovist,  the,  26 

Jews,  the,  division  of  decalogue 

by.  47 
Judah  ha-Levi,  quoted,  47 


INDEX 


237 


Judaism,  ethics  of,  46 
Judges,  Book  of,  29 
Juvenal,  106,  143 

on  objects  of  desire,  222 

Kant,  maxim  of,   66 
King,  Bp.,  quoted,  127 

Lambeth,  Constitutions  of,  23 

Laodicea,  Council  of  (363),  116 

Law,  spirituahty  of  the,  215 

'  Lay  Folk's  Catechism,  the,'  42 

Lee,  Abp.,  42 

Life,  meaning  of,  62 

Liturgy,  the,  of  Strasburg,  43 

English,  44 

Scottish  (1637),  45 

O.T.  lection  in,  45 
Logos,  the  title,  loi 

Man,  true  end  of,  21,  60 
Marriage,  Christian  view  of,  170 

foil. 
Martineau,  Dr.  J.,    on  veracity, 

200 
Maskell,  W.,  quoted,  40  foil. 
Maurice,  F.  D.,  quoted,  85 
Money,  use  of,  194 
Mortification,  law  of,  177 

Nature,  law  of,  6  foil. 
Nestorian  liturgy,  quoted,  104 
Nicaea,  second  Council  of  (787), 


Oaths,  use  of,  103 

Painting  and  sculpture,  use  of  in 

the  Church,  83 
Parents,  duty  to,  133  foil. 
Passover,  the,  symbolism  of,  39 

ritual  of,  57 
Patriotism,  145 


Peckham,  Abp.,  23,  41 
Personality,  divine,  54  foil. 
Pesachim,  quoted,  57 
Pesilim,  28 
Pliilo,  on  the  Sabbath,  121,  122 

on  the  division  of    the  deca- 
logue, 49 
Plato,  106,  180 

on  reverence  to  parents,  133 
Property,  Christian  view  of,  185, 

189 
Psalms,  Book  of,  13,  61 
Psalm,  the  119th,  13,  231  foil. 
PuUain,  Valerand,  43,  225 
Purity,  Christian  idea  of,  174 

aids  to,  177  foil. 

reward  of,  183 

Rashdall,  Dr.  H.,  quoted,  220 

Repentance,  66 

Resentment,   social  function  of, 

153 

Responsibility,       doctrine        of 
moral,  58 

Sabbath,  the,  Jewish  observance 

of,  113  foil. 
Saints,  cultus  of,  88 
Savonarola,  on  the  Bible,  107 
Self-love,  22,  23,  217 
Sin,  St.  James  on,  213 
Sincerity,  duty  of,  206 
Smith,    John,    on    the    law    of 
Nature,  7  note 
on  self-denial,  10  note 
on  divine  knowledge,  55,  87 
on  superstition,  87 
Smith,    Prof.    W.    R.,    on    the 

Mosaic  Law,  31 
Social  responsibility,  principle  of, 

165  foil. 
Solidarity,  law  of,  187 


238 


INDEX 


Speech,  sacredness  of,  loo,  199 
social  importance  of,  204  foil. 

Spirit,  the  Holy,  office  of,  226 

Standard,  the  moral,  20 

State,  authority  of  the,  139 
Christian  view  of  the,  145  foil. 

Stewardship,  law  of,  185 

Strasburg,  liturgy  of,  43 

Suicide,  sin  of,  157 

Superstition,  87 

Swearing,  vain,  105 

Syndicalism,  145 


Taylor,  Bp.  J.,  on  marriage,  181 

note 
Tennyson,  Lord,  quoted,  16,  179 
Tertullian  on  the  Roman  Empire, 

143 
Thoresby,  Abp.,  41 
Tor  ah,  38 

Traheme,  T.,  quoted,  214 
Trustworthiness,  211 


Truthfulness,  100,  200 

Turretin,  quoted,  117 

on  the  cultus  of  saints,  88 
on   the  sixth   commandment, 
165 

Unworldliness,  duty  of,  220 

Vanity,  67 

War,  Christian  view  of,  156 
Warde  Fowler,  W.,  on  Ps.  cxix., 

13  note 
Wellhausen,  28 

Westcott,  Bp.,  quoted,  69,  195 
Whittier,  quoted,  96 
Wilson,  Bp.  T.,  quoted,  74,  76, 

77.  78 

on  a  happy  hfe,  219 
Work,  law  of,  118  foil. 
Wordsworth,  W.,  quoted,  123 
Worship,  false,  67  foil. 

the  spirit  of,  93  foil. 


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